Tayoga smiled wanly.
"I see that you have bound up my wound," he said. "That was well. But since I cannot see the wound itself I do not know what kind of a bullet made it."
"It wasn't a bullet at all, Tayoga. It was a cannon ball, though it came out of a wide-mouthed musket, and I'm happy to tell you that it somehow got through your shoulder without touching bone."
"The bullet is out?"
"Yes, I cut it out with this good old hunting knife of mine."
Again Tayoga smiled wanly.
"You have done well, Dagaeoga," he said. "Did I not say to others in your defense that you had intelligence and, in time, might learn? You have saved my life, a poor thing perhaps, but the only life I have, and I thank you."
Robert laughed, and his laugh was full of heartiness. He saw the old
Tayoga coming back.
"You'll be a new man tomorrow," he said. "With flesh and blood as healthy as yours a hole through your shoulder that I could put my fist in would soon heal."
"What does Dagaeoga purpose to do next?"