ttle danger of
the latter, as the enemy could not, for the present at least, bring a
sufficient force into the field. But after the moon had risen, the five,
with Heemskerk, went ahead through the forest. The Iroquois town of
Kanawaholla lay just ahead, and the army would reach it on the morrow.
It was the intention of the scouts to see if it was still occupied.

It was near midnight when the little party drew near to Kanawaholla
and watched it from the shelter of the forest. Like most other Iroquois
towns, it contained wooden houses, and cultivated fields were about it.
No smoke rose from any of the chimneys, but the sharp eyes of the scouts
saw loaded figures departing through a great field of ripe and waving
corn. It was the last of the inhabitants, fleeing with what they could
carry. Two or three warriors might have been in that group of fugitives,
but the scouts made no attempt to pursue. They could not restrain a
little feeling of sympathy and pity, although a just retribution was
coming.

"If the Iroquois had only stood neutral at the beginning of the war, as
we asked them," said Heemskerk, "how much might have been spared to both
sides! Look! Those people are stopping for a moment."

The burdened figures, perhaps a dozen, halted at the far edge of the
corn field. Henry and Paul readily imagined that they were taking a
last look at their town, and the feeling of pity and sympathy deepened,
despite Wyoming, Cherry Valley, and all the rest. But that feeling
never extended to the white allies of the Iroquois, whom Thayendanegea
characterized in word and in writing as "more savage than the savages
themselves."

The scouts waited an hour, and then entered the town. Not a soul was in
Kanawaholla. Some of the lighter things had been taken away, but that
was all. Most of the houses were in disorder, showing the signs of hasty
flight, but the town lay wholly at the mercy of the advancing army.
Henry and his comrades withdrew with the news, and the next day, when
the troops advanced, Kanawaholla was put to the torch. In an hour it was
smoking ruins, and then the crops and fruit trees were destroyed.

Leaving ruin behind, the army continued its march, treading the Iroquois
power under foot and laying waste the country. One after another
the Indian towns were destroyed, Catherinetown, Kendaia,
Kanadesaga, Shenanwaga, Skoiyase, Kanandaigua, Honeyoye, Kanaghsawa,
Gathtsewarohare, and others, forming a long roll, bearing t