He talked to me for hours after the others slept, and I listened with undiminished interest to the end. The man's stern conviction was an inspiration, whether you agreed with him or not. And if some hold me religiously a weakling because I grant him the merit of believing what he preached, my answer is that such as he was, he—and many others like him—was one of the most potent forces in carrying the rule of the white man into the Wilderness Country. If he and his fellows did not convert the savages, at least they taught them the strength of the white man's will, and by their pioneering endeavor they taught their own people the worth of the unknown lands that always lie beyond the horizon's rim.
In the night the weather shifted, and the morning was overcast and blustery, with a changeable wind. We debated whether we should trust ourselves to the raft under such conditions, and Tawannears and Peter advised against it until Black Robe derided their fears.
"What?" he cried in the Seneca dialect, which came readily to him, he having been long a missionary to the People of the Long House. "Is the Warden of the Western Door afraid to go upon the waters? Is Corlaer, whose fat belly is dreaded by every squaw from Jagara to the mouth of the Mohawk, fearful lest he wet his moccasins? You have dared all manner of perils over hundreds of leagues, and now you wince at a few leagues of water! Pluck up your courage! I am the wreck of what was a man, yet I am not afraid. Will you let me daunt you?"
"Black Robe does not know what he says," replied Tawannears stiffly. "A silly little bird has whistled idle thoughts in his ear. He knows well that Tawannears does not fear even the Master of Evil, Hanegoategeh, whom Black Robe serves."
Peter said nothing, after his fashion, but his little eyes squinted thoughtfully, and presently he drew us aside.
"If Black Robe is touched in der head we might be safe," he proposed.
"Nonsense," I retorted impatiently, "what has that to do with whether the wind blows or the waters rise? It is dangerous out there on the raft or it is not. Black Robe has nothing to do with it."
"My brother Otetiani may be right," said Tawannears, "yet he has said that the Great Spirit has taken Black Robe under his protection. If that is true, will Hawenneyu allow him to drown?"
"Perhaps not," I admitted, "but we might drown whilst he escaped."
"Otetiani speaks with a straight tongue," affirmed the Seneca. "Nevertheless I say that we cannot let Black Robe put a slight upon us. There is danger on the bosom of the Father of Waters. But if we do not venture forth Black Robe will laugh at us, and perhaps some day he will tell the story to his people. Let us go."