"But you will want an interpreter."
"Yes, one who can talk with the Indians as well as the French."
"You do not mean to enlist the Indians?"
"Yes; I will attract to our side every man, and I would every animal, if that were possible."
"What do you think of Old Buckskin?"
"Do you know him?"
"Yes, and he is with us."
"Just the man. Old Buckskin knows every inch of the ground from here to Quebec. I am glad he is ready to go with me."
The man called Old Buckskin was an eccentric trapper. No one knew his real name, and it is within the realm of probability that he had forgotten it himself.
Allen had met him frequently in the Green Mountains, and knew that he was an excellent guide, a fearless man and a good hunter.