Once or twice they saw distant
smoke which they believed was made by Canadian and therefore hostile
Indians, but they did not pause to investigate. It was their desire to
make speed, because they wished to reach as quickly as they could the
Long House in the vale of the Onondaga. It was still possible to arrive
there before St. Luc should go away, because he would have to wait until
the fifty sachems chose to go in council and hear him.
On this, their return journey, Robert thought much of the chevalier and
was eager to see him again. Of all the Frenchmen he had met St. Luc
interested him most. De Galisonniere was gallant and honest and
truthful, a good friend, but he did not convey the same impression of
foresight and power that the chevalier had made upon him, and there was
also another motive, underlying but strong. He wished to match himself
in oratory before the fifty chiefs with Duquesne's agent. He was
confident of his gifts, discovered so recently, and he knew the road to
the mind and hearts of the Iroquois.
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