of their great chief, to advance and cover his retreat.
At the command of the governor, however, the men had
again suddenly disappeared from the surface of the rampart;
so that when the Indians finally perceived their leader
stood unharmed and unmolested, on the spot he had previously
occupied, the excitement died away, and they once more
assumed their attitude of profound attention.

"What thinks the great chief of the Ottawas now?" asked
the governor;--"did he imagine that the young white men
lie sleeping like beavers in their dams, when the hunter
sets his traps to catch them?--did he imagine that they
foresee not the designs of their enemies? and that they
are not always on the watch to prevent them?"

"My father is a great warrior," returned the Indian; "and
if his arm is full of strength, his head is fall of
wisdom. The chiefs will no longer hesitate;--they will
enter the strong hold of the Saganaw, and sit with him
in the council."

He next addressed a few words, and in a language not
understood by those upon the walls, to one of the younger
of the Indians. The latter acknowledged his sense and
approbation of what was said to him by an assentient and
expressive "Ugh!" which came from his chest without any
apparent emotion of the lips, much in the manner of a
modern ventriloquist. He then hastened, with rapid and
lengthened boundings, across the common towards his band.
After the lapse of a minute or two from reaching them,