f each verse came
the refrain, in which the warriors joined:

"Victory and glory Aieroski gives to his children. The mighty Six
Nations, greatest of men."

"What under the sun is she about?" whispered Shif'less Sol.

"It is a fearful face," was Paul's only reply.

Suddenly the woman, without stopping her chant, made a gesture to
the warriors. Two powerful Senecas seized one of the bound prisoners,
dragged him to his feet, and held him up before her. She uttered a
shout, whirled the great tomahawk about her head, its blade glittering
in the moonlight, and struck with all her might. The skull of the
prisoner was cleft to the chin, and without a cry he fell at the feet of
the woman who had killed him. Paul uttered a shout of horror, but it
was lost in the joyful yells of the Iroquois, who, at the command of the
woman, offered a second victim. Again the tomahawk descended, and again
a man fell dead without a sound.

Shif'less Sol and Paul wrenched at their thongs, but they could not move
them. Braxton Wyatt laughed aloud. It was strange to see how fast one
with a bad nature could fall when the opportunities were spread before
him. Now he was as cruel as the Indians themselves. Wilder and shriller
grew the chant of the savage queen. She was intoxicated with blood. She
saw it everywhere. Her tomahawk clove a third skull, a fourth, a fifth,
a sixth, a seventh, and eighth. As fast as they fell the warriors at her
command brought up new victims for her weapon. Paul shut his eyes, but
he knew by the sounds what was passing. Suddenly a stern voice cried:

"Hold, woman! Enough of this! Will your tomahawk never be satisfied?"

Paul understood it, the meaning, but not the words. He opened his eyes
and saw the great figure of Timmendiquas striding forward, his hand
upraised in protest.

The woman turned her fierce gaze upon the young chief. "Timmendiquas,"
she said, "we are the Iroquois, and we are the masters. You are far from
your own land, a guest in our lodges, and you cannot tell those who have
won the victory how they shall use it. Stand back!"

A loud laugh came from the Iroquois. The fierce old chiefs, Hiokatoo and
Sangerachte, and a dozen warriors thrust themselves before Timmendiquas.
The woman resumed her chant, and a hundred throats pealed out with her
the chorus:

Victory and glory Aieroski gives to his children The mighty Six Nations,
greatest of men.

She gave the signal anew. The ninth victim stood before