He had been an apt pupil of Tayoga before the slaver came to Albany, and now he meant to show the ruffians that the owl was not the only spirit of fate hovering over them.
The deep growl of a bear came from the thicket, not the growl of an ordinary black bear, comedian of the forest, but the angry rumble of some great ursine beast of which the black bear was only a dwarf cousin.
Then he moved swiftly to another point and repeated it.
He heard the leader cursing and trying to calm the fears of the men while it was evident that his own too were aroused.

The fellow suddenly drew a pistol and fired a bullet into the forest.

Robert heard it cutting the leaves near him.

But he merely lay down and laughed.

His fantastic impulse was succeeding in more brilliant fashion than he had hoped.
Imitating their leader, six or eight of the men snatched out pistols and fired at random into the woods.