This, so the old men said, had once been the land of the Mohawks, one of the great nations of the Hodenosaunee, and now the children of Onontio, who had come with firearms against bows and arrows, spoke of it as theirs since Manitou first made the land rise from the deep.

Tayoga was silent but he had many thoughts, and they were thoughts that came to him often and stayed long.
"De Courcelles and Jumonville, whom you met in the forest," said de Galisonniere, at length, "arrived in Montreal early last night, and after a stay of only two or three hours sailed in a schooner for Quebec." "Did you see them at all while they were in Montreal ?" asked Robert, who seemed to detect significance in the young Frenchman's tone.
"Only for a few moments," replied de Galisonniere, and Robert, judging that he wished to avoid more talk on the subject, made no further reference to de Courcelles.

But the knowledge that he had gone on ahead to Quebec troubled him.

De Courcelles was not so young and frank as de Galisonniere, nor did he seem to have the fine soul and chivalric spirit of St.Luc.Robert felt the three had cause to fear him.
But the journey down the St.Lawrence continued without serious delay, although the wind failed now and then and they took to the oars.

It was a voyage full of variety and interest to Robert.