Robert's quick and powerful imagination instantly projected itself into their minds, and he saw as they saw.

To them the cry of a wolf was the cry of a real wolf, the forest was dark, lonely and uncomfortable, but it was empty of any foe, and the four who had come to them were merely trying to create a sense of their own importance.

They began to move restlessly, and it required Captain Colden's whispered but sharp command to still them again.
The cry of the wolf, used much by both the Indians and the borderers as a signal, came now from the east, and after the lapse of a minute it was repeated from the west.

Call and answer were a relief to Robert, whose faculties were attuned to such a high degree that any relief to the strain, though it brought the certainty of attack, was welcome.
"You're sure those cries were made by our enemies ?" said young Colden.
"Beyond a doubt," replied Willet.

"I can tell the difference between the note and that of a genuine wolf, but then I've spent many years in the wilderness, and I had to learn these things in order to live.
They'll send forward scouts, and they'll expect to find you and your men around the fire, most of you asleep.