not yet
too late.

"Brothers, if you wish to satisfy us that your intentions are good,
follow the advice I have given you before: that is, that one or both of
you should visit the President of the United States and lay your
grievances before him. He will treat you well, will listen to what you
say, and if you can show him that you have been injured, you will
receive justice. If you will follow my advice in this respect it will
convince the citizens of this country and myself that you have no design
to attack them. Brothers, with respect to the lands that were purchased
last fall, I can enter into no negotiations with you on that subject;
the affair is in the hands of the President. If you wish to go and see
him, I will supply you with the means."

If either of the brothers should act upon the Governor's advice and go
to Washington he would be virtually a hostage in the hands of the
government, and the Indians would not dare to do the settlers any harm
lest their leader should come to grief because of their misdoing.

Tecumseh sent the Governor a brief, friendly reply, in which he promised
to go to Vincennes himself in a short time. Governor Harrison did not
know just what to expect from the proposed visit, but he remembered
Pontiac's attempt to capture Detroit by surprise and he prepared to give
his guest a warlike reception if need be.

Late in July the chief arrived, attended by about three hundred Indians.
A council was held which the Governor opened by recounting the injuries
the white men had suffered at the hands of the Indians, and by again
making the charge that the Indians were preparing for war. Tecumseh
replied with a counter enumeration of injuries, and said again that the
Indians would never give up the land in dispute, but that it was his
wish and hope that the matter could be settled peaceably. He said that
he was trying to build up a strong nation of red men, after the model of
the Seventeen Fires, and that he was on his way to visit the southern
tribes to invite them to join his league. He assured Governor Harrison
that he had given the strictest orders that the northern Indians should
remain at peace during his absence, and that as soon as he returned he
would go to Washington to settle the land question.

[Illustration: TECUMSEH INCITING THE CREEKS]

Tecumseh then hastened to the South, where he worked to good effect
among the Creeks and Seminoles, persuading them to join his confederacy.
It is