at
once in him an antagonist even more formidable than he had expected. His
appeal was to the lore of the woods and to valor. The French adapted
themselves to the ways of the forest. They practiced the customs of the
Indians, lived with them and often married their women. They could grow
and flourish together, while the Englishmen and the Bostonnais held
themselves aloof from the red men, and pretended to be their superiors.
The French soldier and the Indian warrior had much in common, side by
side they were invincible, and together they could drive the English
into the sea, giving back to the red races the lands they had lost.

He was a graceful and impassioned speaker, and he, too, made his
impression. The principal point of his theme, that the French alone
fraternized with the Indians, was good and all were familiar with the
fact. He returned to it continually, and when he sat down the applause
was louder than it had been for either Willet or the priest. It was
evident that he had made a strong appeal, and the Onondaga and Seneca
sachems regarded him with a certain degree of favor, but the nine fierce
and implacable Mohawk sachems did not unbend a particle.

Then Robert rose. Despite the fewness of his years, the times and hard
circumstance had given him wisdom. He was surcharged, too, with emotion.
He was yet an Iroquois for the time being, despite his white face. He
still saw as they saw, and felt as they felt, and while he wished them
to take the side of Britain and the British colonies, or at least not
join the side of France and the French colonies, he was moved, too, by a
deep personal sympathy. The fortunes of the Hodenosaunee were dear to
him. He had been adopted into the great League. Tayoga, as the red
people saw it, was his brother in more than blood.

He trembled a little with emotion as he looked upon the grave
half-circle of the fifty sachems, and the clustering chiefs behind them,
and then upon the people, the old men, the warriors, the women and the
children. As he saw them, they were friendly. They knew him to be one of
them by all the sacred rites of adoption, they knew that he had fought
by the side of the great young warrior Tayoga of the clan of the Bear,
of the nation Onondaga, of the mighty League of the Hodenosaunee, and
after the momentary silence a deep murmur of admiration for the lithe,
athletic young figure, and the frank, open face, ran through the
multitude.

He spoke with glowing z