rty of Maquas,
or Mohawks, it was not detected that he was of white blood until he was
stripped for the ordeal of the gantlet, in an Iroquois village. His
identity being thus discovered, his latest captors washed from him his
Caughnawaga paint, repainted and reclad him in Mohawk fashion, and
treated him in all respects like a son of the tribe. Having thus
exchanged one form of Indian life for another, Truman Flagg remained
among the Iroquois long enough to master their languages, and receive
the name of Honosagetha, or the man of much talk. Finally, he
attracted the attention of Sir William Johnson, and became one of the
general's interpreters, as well as a counsellor in Indian affairs.
After awhile the forest ranger so fretted against the restraints of
civilization and town life, as he termed that of the frontier
settlement clustered about Johnson Hall on the lower Mohawk, that when
Major Hester, searching for an experienced guide and hunter, offered
him the position, he gladly accepted it. Since then, save when his
services were required as a messenger between Tawtry House and the
river settlements, he had been free to come and go as he pleased,
provided he kept his employer fairly well provided with all varieties
of game in its season. Thus he was able to spend much of his time in
roaming the forest, passing from one Indian village to another, keeping
himself posted on all subjects of interest to these wilderness
communities, and ever watching, with eagle eye, over the safety of the
Tawtry House inmates. He was a simple-hearted fellow, of sterling
honesty, and a keen intelligence, that enabled him to absorb
information on all subjects that came within his range, as a sponge
absorbs water. Although of slender build, his muscles were of iron,
his eyesight was that of a hawk, and as a rifle-shot he had no superior
among all the denizens of the forest, white or red. During three years
of mutual helpfulness, a strong friendship had sprung up between this
son of the forest and the soldier, whose skilled valor on old-world
battle-fields had won the approbation of a king. Now, therefore, the
latter awaited with impatience the coming of the hunter, whose advice
he deemed essential before deciding upon any plan of action in the
present crisis.

When Truman Flagg appeared, and reported his patient to be sleeping
soundly after having eaten a hearty supper, the major asked what he
knew concerning the young Ottawa, and w