“I was not far from there,” answered Roger. “We have had a hard time of it lately, harassed on all sides by the French, the Canadians, and Indians. I had drawn my men off, to give them a few days’ rest; for in our last skirmish we had lost several men, and others had been wounded. I was lying half-asleep and half-awake at the foot of a tree one night, when I became conscious of some one creeping round from behind. In a second I was on foot, and at the same moment an Indian youth rose up before me. I seized him, and knew at once he was an Iroquois. I had seen him before; he was Nadjii’s half-brother.
“‘What are you doing here?’ I asked.
“‘Nadjii tell me come,’ he answered, in his native dialect. ‘Find the “Brave Heart,”’ she said, ‘and tell him to be near the old Nosa before the moon is at its full.’
“‘There’s mischief brewing against the Marshes then?’ I asked.
“‘I do not know; Nadjii say come,’ he answered.
“‘Where is she? and where is the white chief, her husband?’ I asked.
“‘Nadjii watch the white maiden. The white chief with the white men up at the City on the Rock.’
“Then I knew that Charles was with General Montcalm, and that a tribe, probably the one I had escaped from, was about to attack the Marshes out of revenge.
“‘It is well,’ I answered. ‘You stay with me. If you speak truly, good; if you deceive us——’ and I made a well-known sign of punishment. He only smiled, and sat down on the ground in token of consent.
“An hour later we were on our way; but it is a long journey, and we had to keep clear of the Indians. The nearer we got to Marshwood, the more we became aware of their presence. We had to take a circuitous path, which delayed us and made us late.”