Directly ahead of them was a faint dark line against the dazzling blue of the sky.
"Smoke!" said Tayoga.
"St.Luc's smoke," said Willet.
"The very smoke of the camp for which we were looking and which we were expecting!" said Black Rifle.
Robert's pulses beat hard, as they always did when he knew the great French Chevalier to be near.

But that emotion soon passed and in its place came the thought of the enemy's presence.

However much he admired St.Luc he was an official foe, to be met upon the battlefield.
"We must look into their camp," he said.
"So we must," said Willet, "and to do that we shall have to go much nearer.

The risk is too great now, but it will soon be night, and then we can approach.

We can see them well, then, because they'll build all the fires they like, since they think they have nothing to fear." Then the five waited in silence among the thick woods on the crest of the hill, and Grosvenor prepared his mind for his first stalk.