iquas to a lodge of honor, the
finest in the village, and retired to his own.

The great feast was over, but the chiefs had come to a momentous
decision. Still chafing over their defeat at Oriskany, they would make
a new and formidable attack upon the white settlements, and Timmendiquas
and his fierce Wyandots would help them. All of them, from the oldest
to the youngest, rejoiced in the decision, and, not least, the famous
Thayendanegea. He hated the Americans most because they were upon
the soil, and were always pressing forward against the Indian. The
Englishmen were far away, and if they prevailed in the great war, the
march of the American would be less rapid. He would strike once more
with the Englishmen, and the Iroquois could deliver mighty blows on the
American rearguard. He and his Mohawks, proud Keepers of the Western
Gate, would lead in the onset. Thayendanegea considered it a good
night's work, and he slept peacefully.

The great camp relapsed into silence. The warriors on the ground
breathed perhaps a little heavily after so much feasting, and the fires
were permitted to smolder down to coals. Wolves and panthers drawn by
the scent of food crept through the thickets toward the faint firelight,
but they were afraid to draw near. Morning came, and food and drink
were taken to the lodges in which four prisoners were held, prisoners
of great value, taken by Timmendiquas and the Wyandots, and held at his
urgent insistence as hostages.

Three were found as they had been left, and when their bonds were
loosened they ate and drank, but the fourth hut was empty. The one who
spoke in a slow, drawling way, and the one who seemed to be the most
dangerous of them all, was gone. Henry and Sol had taken the severed
thongs with them, and there was nothing to show how the prisoner had
disappeared, except that the withes fastening the door had been cut.

The news spread through the village, and there was much excitement.
Thayendanegea and Timmendiquas came and looked at the empty hut.
Timmendiquas may have suspected how Shif'less Sol had gone, but he said
nothing. Others believed that it was the work of Hahgweh-da-et-gah (The
Spirit of Evil), or perhaps Ga-oh (The Spirit of the Winds) had taken
him away.

"It is well to keep a good watch on the others," said Timmendiquas, and
Thayendanegea nodded.

That day the chiefs entered the Long House again, and held a great war
council. A string of white wampum about a foot in