the enemy
came into sight, the chief gave back his totem to every man, and he wore
it on his body in the conflict as a protection given by Manitou.

Henry noticed the rapt, worshipful air with which every man regarded his
totem before it was replaced in the medicine bag. He was a child of the
forest and the wilderness himself, and, while he knew that this was
superstition, he could not find it in his heart to criticize it. It was
their simple belief, the best that they knew, and here was the proof of
its power. They had suffered no loss in the ambush, while they had slain
two and taken one.

The elderly warrior who now bore the medicine bag and who was to lead
them back home preserved a stoical face while the brief ceremonies were
going on, but Henry knew that his heart was swollen with pride. He had
achieved one of the greatest triumphs of an Indian's life, and the
memory of it would remain with his tribe as long as he lived.

"You are now our leader, O Anue (Bear)," said the young chief in Wyandot
to the successful warrior.

"I take the trust, O Timmendiquas (Lightning)," replied Anue as he
stepped back to the head of the line.

But the spirit and authority of Timmendiquas were still omnipotent,
despite the formal leadership of Anue, and he turned to the prisoner,
regarding him a moment or two with his piercing glance.

"You have come with the great white force up Yandawezue?" he said
interrogatively.

"Yandawezue?" repeated Henry, who was not familiar with the Wyandot
tongue.

"The great river," repeated Timmendiquas, waving his hand toward the
southwest.

"Ah, I understand," said Henry. "You mean the Mississippi. Yes, we have
come up it all the way from New Orleans, and we have a strong force,
many men with many rifles and with cannon. We had a great battle far
down the river, and we defeated all the Indians and white men, their
renegade allies."

Timmendiquas, the White Lightning of the whites, the great young chief
of the Wyandots, drew himself up in all the majesty of a perfectly
proportioned six feet three, and the fierce, Roman-like features
contracted into a scornful smile.

"No Wyandots were there," he said. "But they are here, and with them
their allies, the Miamis, the Shawnees, the Ottawas, the Delawares, and
the Illinois. You may be many, you may have cannon, and you may be
brave, and you have come up Yandawezue, but you will find
Ohezuhyeandawa" (the Ohio--in the Wyandot tongue, "something