He believed every word that Tayoga said.
"As Tododaho watches over you, so Hayowentha watches over me," he
said, "and he will bring me back in safety and victory from the
St. Lawrence. Farewell again, my brother."
"Farewell once more, Daganoweda!"
The Mohawk chief plunged into the forest, and his fifty warriors
followed him. Like a shadow they were gone, and the waving bushes gave
back no sign that they had ever been. Captain Colden rubbed his eyes
and then laughed.
"I never knew men to vanish so swiftly before," he said, "but last
night was good proof that they were here, and that they came in
time. I suppose it's about the only victory of which we can make
boast."
He spoke the full truth. From the St. Lawrence to the Ohio the border
was already ravaged with fire and sword. Appeals for help were pouring
in from the distant settlements, and the governors of New York,
Pennsylvania and Massachusetts scarcely knew what to do. France had
struck the first blow, and she had struck hard. Young Washington,
defeated by overwhelming numbers, was going back to Virginia, and
Duquesne, the fort of the French at the junction of the Monongahela
and Allegheny, was a powerful rallying place for their own forces and
the swarming Indian bands, pouring out of the wilderness, drawn by the
tales of unlimited scalps and plunder.
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