第106章

THE FINAL FIGHT

Shif'less Sol and Tom Ross were also looking under the mats, and the three would have recognized those figures anywhere.The taller was Timmendiquas, the other Thayendanegea.The thin light from the window fell upon their faces, and Henry saw that both were sad.Haughty and proud they were still, but each bore the look that comes only from continued defeat and great disappointment.It is truth to say that the concealed three watched them with a curiosity so intense that all thought of their own risk was forgotten.To Henry, as well as his comrades, these two were the greatest of all Indian chiefs.

The White Lightning of the Wyandots and the Joseph Brant of the Mohawks stood for a space side by side, gazing out of the window, taking a last look at the great Seneca Castle.It was Thayendanegea who spoke first, using Wyandot, which Henry understood.

"Farewell, my brother, great chief of the Wyandots," he said.

"You have come far with your warriors, and you have been by our side in battle.The Six Nations owe you much.You have helped us in victory, and you have not deserted us in defeat.You are the greatest of warriors, the boldest in battle, and the most skillful."Timmendiquas made a deprecatory gesture, but Thayendanegea went on:

"I speak but the truth, great chief of the Wyandots.We owe you much, and some day we may repay.Here the Bostonians crowd us hard, and the Mohawks may yet fight by your side to save your own hunting grounds.""It is true," said Timmendiquas."There, too, we' must fight the Americans.""Victory was long with us here," said Thayendanegea, "but the rebels have at last brought an army against us, and the king who persuaded us to make war upon the Americans adds nothing to the help that he has given us already.Our white allies were the first to run at the Chemung, and now the Iroquois country, so large and so beautiful, is at the mercy of the invader.We perish.In all the valleys our towns lie in ashes.The American army will come to-morrow, and this, the great Seneca Castle, the last of our strongholds, will also sink under the flames.I know not how our people will live through the Winter that is yet to come.Aieroski has turned his face from us."But Timmendiquas spoke words of courage and hope.

"The Six Nations will regain their country," he said."The great League of the Ho-de-no-sau-nee, which has been victorious for so many generations, cannot be destroyed.All the tribes from here to the Mississippi will help, and will press down upon the settlements.I will return to stir them anew, and the British posts will give us arms and ammunition."The light of defiance shone once more in the eyes of Thayendanegea.

"You raise my spirits again," he said."We flee now, but we shall come back again.The Ho-de-no-saunee can never submit.We will ravage all their settlements, and burn and destroy.We will make a wilderness where they have been.The king and his men will yet give us more help."Part of his words came true, and the name of the raiding Thayendanegea was long a terror, but the Iroquois, who had refused the requested neutrality, had lost their Country forever, save such portions as the victor in the end chose to offer to them.

"And now, as you and your Wyandots depart within the half hour, Igive you a last farewell," said Thayendanegea.

The hands of the two great chiefs met in a clasp like that of the white man, and then Timmendiquas abruptly left the Council House, shutting the door behind him.Thayendanegea lingered a while at the window, and the look of sadness returned to his face.Henry could read many of the thoughts that were passing through the Mohawk's proud mind.

Thayendanegea was thinking of his great journey to London, of the power and magnificence that he had seen, of the pride and glory of the Iroquois, of the strong and numerous Tory faction led by Sir John Johnson, the half brother of the children of Molly Brant, Thayendanegea's own sister, of the Butlers and all the others who had said that the rebels would be easy to conquer.He knew better now, he had long known better, ever since that dreadful battle in the dark defile of the Oriskany, when the Palatine Germans, with old Herkimer at their head, beat the Tories, the English, and the Iroquois, and made the taking of Burgoyne possible.The Indian chieftain was a statesman, and it may be that from this moment he saw that the cause of both the Iroquois and their white allies was doomed.Presently Thayendanegea left the window, walking slowly toward the door.

He paused there a moment or two, and then went out, closing it behind him, as Timmendiquas had done.The three did not speak until several minutes after he had gone.

"I don't believe," said Henry, "that either of them thinks, despite their brave words, that the Iroquois can ever win back again.""Serves 'em right," said Tom Ross."I remember what I saw at Wyoming.""Whether they kin do it or not," said the practical Sol, "it's time for us to git out o' here, an' go back to our men.""True words, Sol," said Henry, "and we'll go."Examining first at the window and then through the door, opened slightly, they saw that the Iroquois village bad become quiet.

The preparations for departure had probably ceased until morning.

Forth stole the three, passing swiftly among the houses, going, with silent foot toward the orchard.An old squaw, carrying a bundle from a house, saw them, looked sharply into their faces, and knew them to be white.She threw down her bundle with a fierce, shrill scream, and ran, repeating the scream as she ran.

Indians rushed out, and with them Braxton Wyatt and his band.

Wyatt caught a glimpse of a tall figure, with two others, one on each side, running toward the orchard, and he knew it.Hate and the hope to capture or kill swelled afresh.He put a whistle to his lip and blew shrilly.It was a signal to his band, and they came from every point, leading the pursuit.

Henry heard the whistle, and he was quite sure that it was Wyatt who had made the sound.A single glance backward confirmed him.