fort. Kettles were set out. Fagged from the long run, the Sioux ate
without a word. At the end of the meal one rose. Shooting an arrow
into the air as a sign that he called Deity to witness the truth of his
words, he proclaimed in a loud voice that the elders of the Sioux
nation would arrive next day at the fort to make a treaty with the
French.

The news was no proof of generosity. The Sioux were the great warriors
of the West. They knew very well that whoever formed an alliance with
the French would obtain firearms; and firearms meant victory against
all other tribes. The news set the Crees by the ears. Warriors
hastened from the forests to defend the fort. The next day came the
elders of the Sioux in pomp. They were preceded by the young braves
bearing bows and arrows and buffalo-skin shields on which were drawn
figures portraying victories. Their hair was turned up in a stiff
crest surmounted by eagle feathers, and their bodies were painted
bright vermilion. Behind came the elders, with medicine-bags of
rattlesnake skin streaming from their shoulders and long strings of
bears' claws hanging from neck and wrist. They were dressed in
buckskin, garnished with porcupine quills, and wore moccasins of
buffalo hide, with the hair dangling from the heel. In the belt of
each was a skull-cracker--a sort of sling stone with a long handle--and
a war-hatchet. Each elder carried a peace pipe set with precious
stones, and stuck in the stem were the quills of the war eagle to
represent enemies slain. Women slaves followed, loaded with skins for
the elders' tents.

[Illustration: A parley on the Plains.]

A great fire had been kindled inside the court of the Cree stockades.