I hid in the snowy bushes, and heard some of
their talk, too. They will not stop until they reach a village a full
hundred miles from here. The Frenchmen, De Courcelles and Jumonville
are mad with anger and disappointment, and so is the Indian chief
Tandakora."
"And well they may be!" jubilantly exclaimed Captain Colden, off whose
mind a great weight seemed to have slid. "It was splendid tactics to
burn their home over their heads. I wouldn't have thought of it
myself, but since others have thought of it, and, it has succeeded so
admirably, we can now do the work we were sent here to do."
Tayoga and Willet made snow-shoes and went out on them a few days
later, confirming the report of Black Rifle. Then small parties were
sent forth to search the forest for settlers and their families. Robert
had a large share in this work, and sometimes he looked upon terrible
things. In more than one place, torch and tomahawk had already done
their dreadful work, but in others they found the people alive and
well, still clinging to their homes. It was often difficult, even in
the face of imminent danger, to persuade them to leave, and when they
finally went, under mild compulsion, it was with the resolve to return
to their log cabins in the spring.
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