"
He spoke so positively that Robert did not pursue the topic, knowing
that if the hunter wished to avoid it he had good reasons. Yet he felt
anew that David Willet, called the Great Bear by the Iroquois, had not
spent his whole life in the woods and that when the time came he could
tell a tale. There was always the fact that Willet spoke excellent
English, so unlike the vernacular of the hunters.
The afternoon was waning fast. The sun was setting in an ocean of fire
that turned the blue line of the mountains in the east to red. The slope
of the land made the current of the river much swifter, and Robert and
Willet drew in their paddles, leaving the work to Tayoga alone, who sat
in the prow and guided their light craft with occasional strokes,
letting the stream do the rest.
There was no more expert canoeman than Tayoga in the whole northern
wilderness. A single sweep of his paddle would send the canoe to any
point he wished, and apparently it was made without effort. There was no
shortening of the breath nor any sudden and violent movement of his
figure.
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