him. "I shall give the Indians orders to spare all women,"
I declared.

He nodded his great head. "I will help the master. I will do all I
can." He humored me as one hushes an ailing child, but I saw the
caution and blankness in his look. As soon as he could he slipped out
of my sight.

And then I went to work. If I staggered as I made my stumbling,
blinded way from war chief to war chief, there was none to know, for
blood lust had closed eyes and ears. Yet, though my muscles failed, my
brain was clear.

The kettle-drums snarled and buzzed like lazy hornets. They sounded
spiteful rather than wicked, but I knew what their droning stood for,
and my body grew cold. In the Ottawa camp the drummers sat beside a
post in the centre of a great circle of warriors, and Longuant stood
with them in the ring singing a war chant. His body was painted green
and he was hung with chains of wampum. I halted. He was one of the
sanest, the most admirable, of the war chiefs, and I listened to him.
He kept his eyes fixed on the westering sun, and yelped his recitation
in a sharp, barking voice. I heard of children dashed to death against
trees; of men disemboweled and left to the mercy of dogs and flies.
After the recitation of each exploit, he struck his hatchet against the
post, and the clamor of the drums doubled.

I found myself sick as well as faint. I beat the air with my clenched
fist, and Cadillac saw me, and begged me to go away alone till I had
myself in hand. But I pushed by him.

"My mind is clear," I said, and I spoke as coldly as a machine.
"Clearer than yours, for I see this as it is. Let me go. I have
undertaken this and I shall go through."

We were ready to march an hour before sunset. The fifty Sacs formed
the vanguard, and I was with them. The Winnebagoes followed, then the
French troops. The remaining tribes, and the Indians who carried the
stores, brought up the rear. Our intention was to march as quietly as
possible while daylight lasted, then work our way by dark and starlight
till we were near the Seneca camp. We would then drop on the ground,
and lie in ambush till it grew light enough to attack. We hoped to
surprise the camp. They had fortified themselves, but apparently had
no scouts at work, and from all we could learn they were feasting and
drinking in Babylonish security, celebrating the return of their
messengers from Michillimackinac. With that exploit in mind it was
small won