nondaga. Having passed the falls, they came to the French fort
situated on the crest of a hill above a lake. Two high towers
loopholed for musketry occupied the centre of the courtyard. Double
walls, trenched between, ran round a space large enough to enable the
French to keep their cattle inside the fort. The _voyageurs_ were
welcomed to Onondaga by Major Dupuis, fifty Frenchmen, and several
Jesuits.

The pilgrims had scarcely settled at Onondaga before signs of the
dangers that were gathering became too plain for the blind zeal of the
Jesuits to ignore. Cayugas, Onondagas, and Senecas, togged out in
war-gear, swarmed outside the palisades. There was no more dissembling
of hunger for the Jesuits' evangel. The warriors spoke no more soft
words, but spent their time feasting, chanting war-songs, heaving up
the war-hatchet against the kettle of sagamite--which meant the rupture
of peace. Then came four hundred Mohawks, who not only shouted their
war-songs, but built their wigwams before the fort gates and
established themselves for the winter like a besieging army. That the
intent of the entire Confederacy was hostile to Onondaga could not be
mistaken; but what was holding the Indians back? Why did they delay
the massacre? Then Huron slaves brought word to the besieged fort of
the twelve Iroquois hostages held at Quebec. The fort understood what
stayed the Iroquois blow. The Confederacy dared not attack the
isolated fort lest Quebec should take terrible vengeance on the
hostages.

[Illustration: Jogues, the Jesuit missionary, who was tortured by the
Mohawks. From a painting in Chateau de Ramezay, Montreal.]

The French decided to send messengers to Quebec for instructions before
closing navigation cut them off for the winter. Thirteen men and one
Jesuit left the fort the first week of September. Mohawk spies knew of
the departure and lay in ambush at each side of the narrow river to
intercept the party; but the messengers eluded the trap by striking
through the forests back from the river directly to the St. Lawrence.
Then the little fort closed its gates and awaited an answer from
Quebec. Winter settled over the land, blocking the rivers with ice and
the forest trails with drifts of snow; but no messengers came back from
Quebec. The Mohawks had missed the outgoing scouts: but they caught
the return coureurs and destroyed the letters. Not a soul could leave
the fort but spies dogged his steps. The