ophies of the chase that, hanging from the rafters,
looked down upon the group, adding weirdness to the picture.

Brock briefly explained that he had come to fight the King's enemies,
enemies who so far had never seen his back, and who were Tecumseh's
enemies also. "Would Tecumseh maintain an honourable warfare?"

Perhaps no eulogy of Brock was ever penned that so well summed up his
qualities as did the terse, four-worded certificate of character uttered
by the Indian before replying to the British general's appeal. Tecumseh
looked "Master Isaac's" commanding physique up and over, over and
down--Brock's caution as to waste of powder doubtless weighing with
him--until eye met eye, and then, impulsively extending his thin brown
hand, turned to his followers, exclaiming in tones of highest
admiration:

"_This_ is a man!"

Assenting "Ughs" and "Ho-hos" followed in rapid succession, and in
response to Brock's invitation the headmen, painted and plumed and in
striped blankets, squatted on their stained reed mats and wild-beast
skins on the basswood log floor. Questioned as to the nature of the
country westward, Tecumseh took a roll of elm-bark and with the point of
his scalping-knife traced on its white inner surface the features of the
region--hills, forests, trails, rivers, muskegs and clearings. Rough,
perhaps, but as accurate, he said, as if drawn by a pale-face
_teebahkee-wayninni_ (surveyor).

That night, after Tecumseh's return, Brock again held council with his
staff, proposing an attack on Detroit. Only one of his chief officers,
the staunch colonial quartermaster, Lieutenant-Colonel Nichol, agreed
with him. Colonel Henry Procter, from whom he had expected whole-hearted
support, strongly objected. History teaches us that the conception of a
daring plan is the offspring of great minds only. Procter was not of
this class, as his subsequent record shows. Some of our hero's critics
have described his resolve to attack Detroit as "audacious and
desperate." Isaac Brock was, of course, nothing if not contemptuously
daring. The greater the difficulty that faced him the more was he
determined to challenge the obstacle, that to a less confident man would
have been rejected as insurmountable. He had, however, resolved and
planned not only upon taking Detroit, but, if need be, the pursuit and
capture of Hull's entire army, compelling him to either stand and fight
or surrender. With habitual prescience he had weighed well th