The blazing sun, now near the zenith, poured down fiery rays and it was hot in the shade of the great trees that grew so closely together.
Robert and the other scouts and guides in the apex marched on soundless feet, but he heard close behind him the tread of the Virginia light horsemen, behind them the steady march of the regulars under Gage, and behind them the deep hum and murmur of the army, the creaking of wheels and the clank of the great guns.

Despite the following sounds he was conscious all the time of the deep, intense silence in the forest on either side of him.

The birds, like the game, had gone away, and there was no flash of blue or of flame among the green leaves.
"There's a dip just ahead," said Willet, pointing to a wide ravine filled with bushes that ran directly across the trail.
They continued their steady advance, and Robert's heart fluttered, but when they came to the ravine they found it empty of everything save the bushes, and the scouts and guides, plunging into it, crossed to the other side.

The light horsemen of Virginia followed, after them Gage's regulars and then the main army drew on its red and blue length, expecting to cross in the same way.
Robert, Tayoga and Willet, leading, entered the deep forest again.

Some chance had put young Lennox slightly in advance of his comrades, but suddenly he stopped.