"
"Then don't believe it unless you wish to do so," laughed Robert, "but
as for me I'm not only believing it, but I'm almost at the stage of
knowing it."
The flood was so great that all hunting ceased for the time, and the
men stayed under shelter in the fort, while the fires were kept
burning for the sake of both warmth and cheer. But they were on the
edge of the great Ohio Valley, where changes in temperature are often
rapid and violent. The warm rain ceased, the wind came out of the
southwest cold and then colder. The logs of the buildings popped with
the contracting cold all through the following night and the next dawn
came bright, clear and still, but far below zero. The ice was thick
on the creek, and every new pool and lake was covered. The trees and
bushes that had been dripping the day before were sheathed in silver
mail. Breath curled away like smoke from the lips.
"If Tayoga stayed in his canoe," said Wilton, "he's frozen solidly in
the middle of the river, and he won't be able to move it until a thaw
comes."
Robert laughed with genuine amusement and also with a certain scorn.
"I've told you many times, Will," he said, "that you didn't know all
about Tayoga, but now it seems that you know nothing about him.
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