nd time
the red warriors sought shelter behind the logs. Probably to obtain
truce till they could send word to the other warriors on the Richelieu,
the Iroquois then hung out a flag of parley; but the Huron chief knew
what peace with an Iroquois meant. He it was, on the Christian
Islands, who, when the Iroquois had proposed a similar parley for the
purpose of massacring the Hurons, invited their chiefs into the Huron
camp and brained them for their treachery. Dollard's band made answer
to the flag hoisted above the Iroquois pickets by rushing out, securing
the head of the Seneca chief, and elevating it on a pike above their
fort.

But as the fight went on, the whites had to have water, and a few
rushed for the river to fill kettles. This rejoiced the hearts of the
Iroquois. They could guess if the whites were short of water, it only
required more warriors to surround the barricade completely and compel
surrender. Scouts had meanwhile gone for the Iroquois at Richelieu;
and on the fifth day of the siege a roar, gathering volume as it
approached, told Dollard that the seven hundred warriors were coming
through the forest. Among the newcomers were Huron renegades, who
approached within speaking distance of the fort and called out for the
Hurons to save themselves from death by surrender. Death was plainly
inevitable, and all the Hurons but the chief deserted. This reduced
Dollard's band, from sixty to twenty. The whites were now weak from
lack of food and sleep; but for three more days and nights the marksmen
and musketoon plied such deadly aim at the assailants that the Iroquois
actually held a council whether they should retire. The Iroquois
chiefs argued that it would disgrace the nation forever if one thousand
of their warriors were to retire before a handful of beardless white
boys. {110} Solemnly the bundle of war sticks was thrown on the
ground. Then each warrior willing to go on with the siege picked up a
stick. The chiefs chose first and the rest were shamed into doing
likewise. Inside the fort, Dollard's men were at the last extremities.
Blistered and blackened with powder smoke, the fevered men were half
delirious from lack of sleep and water. Some fell to their knees and
prayed. Others staggered with sleep where they stood. Others had not
strength to stand and sank, muttering prayers, to their knees. The
Iroquois were adopting new tactics. They could not reach the palisades
in the face of t