ou the
double crown. Wear it for your own glory, and yet more for the glory of
the Wyandot nation."

Timmendiquas bent his lofty head and she put upon it the great flowery
crown. Then as he raised his crowned head and looked proudly around the
circle, a tremendous shout burst from the multitude. Once more they
cried:

"Timmendiquas! Timmendiquas! Timmendiquas!"

Before the third utterance of the name had died, fifty young girls, the
fairest of the tribe, dressed in tanned deerskin adorned with beads and
feathers, streamed into the inner circle and began to dance before the
great chief. Meanwhile they sang:--

Behold the great Timmendiquas!
Mightiest of great chiefs,
Wisest of all in council,
He leads the warriors to battle,
He teaches the old men wisdom,
Timmendiquas, first of men.

Behold the great Timmendiquas!
As strong as the oak on the mountain,
As cunning as the wolf of the valley,
He has fought beside the great Iroquois,
The Yengees flee at the sound of his name,
Timmendiquas, first of men.

Then they joined hands and circled about him to a tune played by four
men on whistles, made from the bones of eagles. The song died, and the
girls flitted away so quickly through the outer ring that they were gone
like shadows.

Responsive as they were to wilderness life, the scene was making a
mighty impression upon Henry and Shif'less Sol. With the firelight about
him and the moonlight above him, the figure of Timmendiquas was
magnified in every way. Recognized long since as the most redoubtable of
red champions, he showed himself more formidable than ever.

The crowd slowly dispersed, but Atuetes of the clan of the Hawk called a
military council in the Council House. Timmendiquas, as became his rank,
led the way, and the renegades, Simon Girty, Braxton Wyatt, and Moses
Blackstaffe were admitted. Inside the Council House, which was hung with
skins and which much resembled those of the Iroquois, the chiefs, after
being called to order by Atuetes, the herald and sheriff, sat down in a
circle, with Timmendiquas a little further forward than the others.

Atuetes took a great trumpet-shaped pipe, lighted it with a coal that
was burning in a small fire in a corner, and inhaled two whiffs of
smoke. He breathed out the first whiff toward the heavens and the second
toward the earth. He handed the pipe to Timmendiquas, who inhaled the
smoke until his mouth was filled. Th