then leave the three black-robes where they are; for, if you take them
with you, they will bring you to trouble."

Such was the substance of Le Borgne's harangue. The anxious priests
hastened up to the fort, gained admittance, and roused Champlain from his
slumbers. He sent his interpreter with a message to the Hurons, that he
wished to speak to them before their departure; and, accordingly, in the
morning an Indian crier proclaimed through their camp that none should
embark till the next day. Champlain convoked the chiefs, and tried
persuasion, promises, and threats; but Le Borgne had been busy among them
with his intrigues, and now he declared in the council, that, unless the
prisoner were released, the missionaries would be murdered on their way,
and war would ensue. The politic savage had two objects in view.
On the one hand, he wished to interrupt the direct intercourse between
the French and the Hurons; and, on the other, he thought to gain credit
and influence with the nation of the prisoner by effecting his release.
His first point was won. Champlain would not give up the murderer,
knowing those with whom he was dealing too well to take a course which
would have proclaimed the killing of a Frenchman a venial offence.
The Hurons thereupon refused to carry the missionaries to their country;
coupling the refusal with many regrets and many protestations of love,
partly, no doubt, sincere,--for the Jesuits had contrived to gain no
little favor in their eyes. The council broke up, the Hurons embarked,
and the priests returned to their convent.

Here, under the guidance of Brebeuf, they employed themselves, amid their
other avocations, in studying the Huron tongue. A year passed, and again
the Indian traders descended from their villages. In the meanwhile,
grievous calamities had befallen the nation. They had suffered
deplorable reverses at the hands of the Iroquois; while a pestilence,