As human life went, the great hunter was happy.
The sound of a shot, and then of a second, came from the cliff above.

He heard no cry following them, no note of the war whoop, and, thinking it over, he concluded that the shots were fired by Indians hunting.

Since the war, game about the lake had increased greatly, and the warriors, whether attached to the French army or roving at their own will, relied chiefly upon the forest for food.

But the reports were significant.

The Indian ring about them was not broken, and he measured their own supplies of venison and hominy.
A little after noon Tayoga awoke, and he awoke in the Indian fashion, without the noise of incautious movements or sudden words, but stepping at once from complete sleep to complete consciousness.