CHAPTER XXI
About two o'clock on the following day long lines of Indian chiefs andwarriors might be seen approaching the great Oneida village. Soonafter, a great fire was lighted before the door of the principallodge, and, as on the preceding evening, the warriors were ranged in acircle round, and the women and children in another beyond. The greatchief, dressed in all the glittering finery of the Indian peacecostume, with feathers and red and white head dress, and crimsonmantle, and embroidered shirt and overdress, and medals innumerablehung around his neck, took the seat of honor with a grave dignity,such as few civilized monarchs have, even after the greatest study,been able to attain. He wore no warlike weapons, nothing but a singleknife appeared in his girdle, and in his hand he carried the richlyornamented calumet, or pipe of piece.
Close behind her father sat Otaitsa, with her heart greatly troubled,but less, perhaps, with fear than with expectation. The Black Eaglehad been kind and tender with her when they had been alone together.He had held her to his heart with a display of fondness such as anIndian rarely shows openly to his child. He had listened to the wholetale of her love for Walter Prevost without a word of disapprobationor reproach, and sometimes even a playful smile had come upon hisdark, stern face as her words recalled the memory of feelingsexperienced in youth, like a well-remembered song heard again after along lapse of years. Instead of reprehending her attempt to deliverWalter, he commended it highly. "It was thy part, my child; thoushouldst have been a boy, Otaitsa; the warrior's spirit is in themaiden's bosom."
But when she came to speak of her lover's fate, to plead, to sue, toentreat, the stern, grave coldness of the Indian chief returned; andthough she could see that he was full of fixed resolves, she could inno way discover what they were. The explanation of them she knew wasnow to come, and it may be imagined with what eager and intenseinterest she listened for every word.
There was, of course, some little confusion as the multitude tooktheir places, but it was soon hushed, and then a deep silence spreadaround. The great pipe was lighted, and sent from hand to hand till ithad passed all around the circle, and then, and not till then, BlackEagle rose and spoke.
"Have my words been heard?" he said. "Have my warriors examinedwhether any of the dark and infernal order of the Honontkoh areamongst us?"
He seated himself again as soon as he had made the inquiry, and aftera moment's pause two middle-aged warriors, who had been with him onthe preceding day, rose and took a step forward, while one of themsaid: "We have heard thy words, and examined. The brother of theSnake, Apukwa, the medicine man, and the Flying Squirrel areHonontkoh. The stripe is upon them and upon none else."
"It is well," said the chief, rising again. "Bring forward that manwho was taken at our Castle door, last night."
Half a dozen young men sprang upon their feet and speedily broughtfrom the door of a neighboring lodge the half-breed runner Proctor,whom we have seen with Brooks and Lord H---- at Albany. He had acalumet in his hand, the sign of a peaceful mission, and he showed nofear, for he knew that his life would be respected, although he hadlearned by this time that the Oneidas had been greatly excited by someacts referring to the very object of his mission. Standing in themidst of them, as calm and collected as he had been in the fort atAlbany, he hardly gave a glance round the circle, but looked straight,with a cold and inexpressive countenance, at the chief before whom hewas placed.
"What hast thou to say?" demanded Black Eagle.
The man remained silent, although there was an evident movement of hislips as if to speak.
"Fear not," said Black Eagle, mistaking the ineffectual effort tospeak for a sign of apprehension, although it really proceeded from ahabitual unwillingness to hear the sound of his own voice, "thou shaltgo in safety, whatever be thy message. Art thou dumb, man? Is thytongue a stone?"
"I am not dumb--I am not afraid," said the man, with a great effort,"Great chiefs in Albany send me to say, 'Give us the boy?'"
There he stopped, for it had cost him much to utter so many words.
"Were they war chiefs?" demanded Black Eagle, aloud.
The man nodded his head, and Black Eagle asked: "Did they threaten theOneidas--did they say they would unbury the hatchet?"
The runner shook his head, and the chief asked, "What did they say,then, would befall us if we refused to comply?"
"Shame," replied Proctor, aloud; and Black Eagle suddenly drew hismantle over his face.
A low murmur spread round like the hum of a hive of bees, and when ithad subsided the chief rose, and with an air of grave, sad dignity,looked round upon his people. "Ye have heard, oh children of theStone," he said, in a rich, clear, deep-toned voice, "what the chiefsof the palefaces say of the Oneida nation; and there are warriors herewho were with me yesterday when our brethren the Mohawks reproached mewith treachery and inhospitality toward our paleface brother, Prevost;and the Black Eagle had nothing to answer. Ye know the history. Whyshould I sing again the song of yesterday? A man of our nation wasslain by one of the Yengees, and the brethren of the dead man seizedupon the son of Prevost, who is also our son, without searching forhim who had spilt the blood. This was contrary to the custom of theFive Nations; but they say the man was not to be found, he was alreadybeyond our territory, and we must take the first we can find toappease the spirit of our brother. But Prevost is a good man, loved byall the Five Nations, as a brother to the redman, a friend who trustedus. So hard do the Mohawks and the Onondagas think this deed, thatthey have dealt subtly with the Oneidas, and striven to rescue ourcaptive from our hands by the crooked ways of the serpent. Thepaleface chiefs, too, have sent men into our land, and think darkly ofthe Oneidas; but the Black Eagle saw what they did, and spread hiswings and drove them forth. He had no answer for the reproaches of theMohawks or for the Yengees. He will give them both their answer thisday by the messenger, and the children of the Stone will thereby knowhis mind. Let them say if it be good."
Then turning to Proctor, he stretched out his hand toward the south,saying: "When thou goest hence, two of my warriors shall go with theeto the Castle of the Mohawk, and thou shalt say, 'Why hast thou dealtsubtly with the Oneidas? If thou hast aught against him, why didstthou not send a messenger of peace to tell thy brother thy mind, orwhy didst thou not appeal to the great council of the Five Nations, tojudge between thee and him? If thou wilt unbury the hatchet, and cutdown the tree of peace, and bring trouble into the Five Nations, thatthe paleface may prevail, and our Long House be pulled down to theground, then paint thy face, and dance the war dance, and come uponthe battleway, but follow not the trail of the serpent, to stealunperceived into thy brother's land.'"
A murmur of approbation followed this bold speech, but the next momentthe chief continued, still addressing Proctor, and saying: "When thouhast thus spoken to the Mohawk, thou shalt go on to the palefacechiefs at Albany, and to them thou shalt say: 'The children of theStone have heard your message. They are the children of the greatking. He is their father, and they love him. But the Oneidas havetheir own laws, and are led by their own chiefs. They take the warpathagainst your enemies as against their own, and ye are glad in the dayof battle when they fight the Frenchman by your side. It is sweet tothem that you have used no threats, and they would not have theirwhite brother think darkly of them. They love, too, the chief,Prevost. They love his son as a brother; but one of their own childrenhas been slain by one of yours, and their law must be fulfilled. Hisspirit must not be shut out from the happy hunting grounds. They willmourn as a whole nation for Walter Prevost, but Walter Prevost mustdie unless the wanderer is taken. Thus says the Black Eagle, the greatchief of the Oneida nation; he who has taken a hundred scalps of hisenemies, and fought in fifteen battles with your foes and his. Give usup the murderer if ye would save the boy. He is in your land. You canfind him. Do justly by us in this matter, and walk not in the trail ofthe fox to deceive us and to save from us our captive.'"
Then pausing for an instant, he somewhat lowered his voice, but spokethe
succeeding words very slowly and distinctly, in order that everysyllable might not only be impressed upon the mind of the man headdressed, but be clearly heard and comprehended by all the peoplearound: "Thou shalt say, moreover, to our brethren, the palefacechiefs at Albany, that the Black Eagle finds that Walter Prevost hasfallen into the hands of bad men, who cannot be trusted, dealers indark things, vultures whose heads are bare but whose hearts arecovered. The Black Eagle will take the boy from their hands, and willtreat him well and keep him in safety till the hour come. As ye havesaid that the Oneidas are hasty, that they do rashly, that they havenot sought as they ought to seek, for six moons will Black Eagle keepthe lad in peace as his own son, to see if ye will give him up themurderer of an Oneida. But as the chief would slay his own son if thelaws of his own people required it at his hands, so will he and thechiefs of his nation slay Walter Prevost, if in six moons ye do notgive him up the murderer. He shall die the death of a warrior, withhis hands unbound; and as Black Eagle knows the spirit that is in him,he is sure that he will die as a warrior should. This thou shalt sayto the English chiefs; let them look to it; the fate of the boydepends upon their counsel. Give him a roll of wampum for his reward,and let him go in peace."
His commands were immediately obeyed, and the half-breed runnerremoved from the circle. Then, turning to the warriors, withoutreseating himself, the chief demanded, "Have I said well?"
The usual words of approbation followed, repeated by almost everyvoice present, and then Black Eagle resumed in a stern tone, saying:"And now, my children, what shall be done to the Honontkoh? I havealready removed the captive from their hands, for they are a peoplewithout faith. They live in darkness, and they wrap themselves in ashadow. They take their paths in deceit, and we see blood anddissension follow them. Already have they raised against us the wrathof our brethren of the Five Nations. They have brought the yellowcloud of shame upon the Oneida name. They have well nigh severed thethreads which hold the roll of our league together. They have laid thehatchet to the root of the tree which we and our English fatherplanted. I say let them go forth from amongst us. The totem of theTortoise casts them forth. We will not leave our lodges near theirlodges. They shall not dwell within our palisade. Let them betakethemselves to the darkness of the forest and to the secret holes ofthe rock, for darkness and secrecy are the dwelling places of theirhearts; or let them go, if they will, to the deceitful Hurons, to thepeople beyond Horicon, and fight beside the deceitful Frenchman. Withus they shall not dwell; let them be seen no more amongst us. Is myjudgment good?"
A general cry of approbation followed, the council broke up, thewarriors commenced wandering about, those who came from a distanceseeking hospitality in the neighboring lodges, for the great lodgeitself could not afford room for all.
To her own little chamber Otaitsa retired at once, and barringthe door, went down upon her knees to offer up thanksgiving andprayer--thanksgiving, for hope is ever a blessing--prayer, for therewas danger still before her eyes. Safe for the next six months sheknew Walter would be in the careful custody of her father, but shestill prayed, earnestly that her mother's God would find some way ofdeliverance for the sake of Him who died to save mankind.