derness.

Another cry came in five minutes from the forest, and now it was clear
and piercing. A warrior in the village replied, and then they all
waited, a vivid, eager crowd, to see who came. The whole space was
within visible range of Henry's crevice, and he watched with equal
interest.

A tall figure emerged from the forest, the figure of an elderly man,
powerful despite his years, and with a face of authority. It was Red
Eagle, head chief of the Shawnees, and behind him came the renegades,
Wyatt and Blackstaffe, and twenty warriors. Despite their haughty
bearing they showed signs of weariness.

The chief of the village stepped forward and gravely saluted Red Eagle,
who replied with equal gravity. They exchanged a few words, and with a
wave of the arms the chief made them welcome. The fires were built anew,
and, the guests sitting about them, smoked with their hosts a pipe of
peace which was passed from one to another. Then food was brought and
Red Eagle, his warriors and the renegades ate.

Henry would have given much to hear what they said, but he knew they
would not speak of their errand for a while. Some time must be allowed
for courtesy and for talk that had nothing to do with their purpose.
Nevertheless he saw that Red Eagle and all his band were worn to the
bone, and he was glad. He had led them on such a chase as they had never
pursued before, and he would lead them yet farther. He could afford to
laugh.

The guests ate hungrily and the women continued to serve food to them
until they were satisfied. Then all except the adult male population of
the village withdrew, and Red Eagle rose to address his hosts.

CHAPTER XI

THE GREATER POWERS

When the Shawnee chief rose to talk he stood at one side of the open
space, scarcely twenty feet from the corner of the council house in
which Henry lay hidden, and as he said what he had to say in the usual
oratorical manner of the Indians upon such occasions, the youth easily
heard every word.

Red Eagle spoke in Shawnee, which Henry surmised was a kindred language
to that of the village, and which it was obvious they easily understood.
He told them a startling tale. He said that far in the south five white
scouts and foresters, two of whom were only boys in years, although one
of the boys was the largest and strongest of the five, had kept the
Indians from destroying the white settlements in Kain-tuck-ee. By trick
and device, by wile and stratagem, th