much earth as that impassive red man and the open-hearted, honest patriot
officer stood upon.

Like bees the angry Indians swarmed to and fro between the encampment and
our place of meeting, until all were armed with rifles, and it needed but
the lightest word to convert that sunlit clearing into a theatre of the
bloodiest deed in the history of the tribe whose wildest delight was the
shedding of blood.

Not until his followers were in such a frenzied condition that it seemed
impossible another's will could restrain them, did Thayendanega speak, and
then in a few words of the Indian language, uttered in so low a tone that
I could not distinguish a single syllable, he calmed the tempest on the
instant, until those who had been howling for our lives became like lambs.

When all was hushed once more, the sachem said to General Herkimer,
speaking calmly, almost indifferently:

"The war-path has been opened across the country as far as Esopus, and the
Tories of Ulster and Orange will join with the braves of Thayendanega's
tribe to quell this revolt against the king, who is their father."

Now it was that General Herkimer spoke earnestly, pleadingly.

"Do not allow so weighty a question to be settled without further
consideration, Captain Brant. Why should not you and I discuss it calmly,
as we have in the olden days many a matter which was not so grave?"

"You have seen how well inclined my young men are toward anything of that
kind," Brant said, with a cruel smile. "Were I to say at this moment that