l night. They hid
here all day. Champlain fell asleep on a heap of spruce
boughs, and in his slumber dreamed that he had seen the
Iroquois drowning in the lake, and that when he tried to
rescue them he had been told by his Algonquin friends to
leave them alone, as they were not worth the trouble of
saving.

The Indians believed in the power of dreams. They had beset
Champlain daily to learn if he had had any visions. When now
he told them his dream they were filled with joy. Victory
had spoken into his slumbering ear. With gladness they
re-embarked when night came on, and continued their course
down the lake.

They had not far to go. At ten o'clock, through the shadows
of the night, they beheld a number of dark objects on the
lake before them. It was a fleet of Iroquois canoes, heavier
and slower craft than those of the Algonquins, for they were
made of oak-or elm-bark, instead of the light paper-birch
used by the latter.

Each party saw the other, and recognized that they were in
the presence of foes. War-cries sounded over the shadowy
waters. The Iroquois, who preferred to do their fighting on
land and who were nearer shore, hastened to the beach and
began at once to build a barricade of logs, filling the air
of the night with yells of defiance as they worked away like
beavers. The allies meanwhile remained on the lake, their
canoes lashed together with poles, dancing with a vigor that
imperilled their frail barks, and answering the taunts and
menaces of their foes with equally vociferous abuse.

It was agreed that the battle should be deferred till
daybreak. As day approached Champlain and his two followers
armed themselves, their armor consisting of cuirass, or
breast-plate, steel coverings for the thighs, and a plumed
helmet for the head. By the side of the leader hung his
sword, and in his hand was his arquebuse, which he had
loaded with four balls. The savages of these woods were now
first to learn the destructive power of that weapon, for
which in the years to come they would themselves discard the
antiquated bow.

The Iroquois much outnumbered their foes. There were some
two hundred of them in all, tall, powerful men, the boldest
warriors of America, whose steady march excited Champlain's
admiration as he saw them filing from their barricade and
advancing through the woods. As for himself and his two
companions, they had remained concealed in the canoes, and
not even when a landing was made did the