The spire of smoke thickened and darkened, and, to Robert and Grosvenor, it seemed most friendly and alluring.

It appeared to rise from a little point of land thrust into the lake but they could not yet see its base, owing to an intervening hill.

Just before they reached the crest of the hill Tayoga said: "Wait a moment, Great Bear.

I think I hear a sound from the place where the smoke rises, and we may be able to tell what it means." They stopped promptly, and the Onondaga put his ear to the earth.
"I hear the sounds very distinctly now," he said.

"They are of a kind not often occurring on these shores." "What are they ?" asked Robert eagerly.
"They are made by axes biting into wood.