At the command of the
governor, however, the men had again suddenly disappeared from the
surface of the rampart; so that when the Indians finally perceived
their leader stood unharmed and unmolested, on the spot he had
previously occupied, the excitement died away, and they once more
assumed their attitude of profound attention.

"What thinks the great chief of the Ottawas now?" asked the
governor;--"did he imagine that the young white men lie sleeping like
beavers in their dams, when the hunter sets his traps to catch
them?--did he imagine that they foresee not the designs of their
enemies? and that they are not always on the watch to prevent them?"

"My father is a great warrior," returned the Indian; "and if his arm is
full of strength, his head is fall of wisdom. The chiefs will no longer
hesitate;--they will enter the strong hold of the Saganaw, and sit with
him in the council."

He next addressed a few words, and in a language not understood by
those upon the walls, to one of the younger of the Indians. The latter
acknowledged his sense and approbation of what was said to him by an
assentient and expressive "Ugh!" which came from his chest without any
apparent emotion of the lips, much in the manner of a modern
ventriloquist. He then hastened, with rapid and lengthened boundings,
across the common towards his band. After the lapse of a minute or two
from reaching them, another simultaneous cry arose, differing in
expression from any that had hitherto been heard. It was one denoting
submission to the will, and compliance with some conveyed desire, of
their superior.

"Is the gate of the Saganaw open?" asked the latter, as soon as his ear
had been greeted with the cry we have just named. "The Ottawa and the
other great chiefs are ready;--their hearts are bold, and they throw
themselves into the hands of the Saganaw without fear."

"The Ottawa chief knows the path," drily rejoined the governor: "when
he comes in peace, it is ever open to him; but when his young men press
it with the tomahawk in their hands, the big thunder is roused to
anger, and they are scattered away like the leaves of the forest in the
storm." "Even now," he pursued, as the little band of Indians moved
slowly round the walls, "the gate of the Saganaw opens for the Ottawa
and the other chiefs."

"Let the most vigilant caution be used every where along the works, but
especially in the rear," continued the governor, addressing Captain
Blessi