of
Timmendiquas. Yet each glance said the same, that it was wise to
dissimulate and take no offense.

"You have spoken well, as usual, Timmendiquas," said Colonel de Peyster.
"Now as you and the other chiefs are rested after your long march we
will talk at once of the great things that we have in mind, since time
is of value. Colonel Bird with the cannon has gone against Kentucky. As
I have already said we wish to send another force which will seek out
and destroy every station, no matter how small, and which will not even
leave a single lone cabin unburned. Colonel Caldwell will command the
white men, but you, Timmendiquas, and the allied tribes will have the
greater task and the greater glory. The King will equip you amply for
the work. He will present a rifle, much ammunition and a fine blanket to
every warrior who goes. Rifles, blankets and ammunition are all in our
storehouses here in Detroit, and they will be distributed the moment the
expedition starts."

The renegades clapped their hands. Most of the chiefs uttered cries of
approval and shook their tomahawks in exultation, but Timmendiquas
remained silent.

"Does it not appeal to you, Timmendiquas?" said de Peyster. "You have
been the most zealous of all the chiefs. You have led great attacks
against the settlers, and you have been most eager in battle."

Timmendiquas rose very deliberately and speaking in Wyandot, which
nearly all present understood, he said:

"What the Colonel of the King says is true. I have fought many times
with the Kentuckians, and they are brave men. Sometimes we have beaten
them, and sometimes they have beaten us. They have great warriors,
Clark, Boone, Kenton, Harrod and the tall youth who sits here, my
captive. Let not the colonel of the King forget that with Clark at their
head they crossed the Ohio, took Vincennes and Kaskaskia and him who
was then the commander of Detroit, Hamilton, now held prisoner in a far
land beyond the mountains."

De Peyster's face flushed darkly, and the other white men moved
uneasily.

"The things you tell are true, Timmendiquas," said de Peyster, "but what
bearing do they have upon our expedition?"

"I wish to speak of many things," resumed the chief. "I am for war to
the end against those who have invaded our hunting grounds. But let not
Colonel de Peyster and Caldwell and Girty forget that the villages of
the Indians lie between Kaintuckee and Detroit."

"What of it?" said de Peyster. "The K