Onondagas, whose whole nation is fewer
than the fighting braves of the great Onontio. The war-song is sung in
every white village. The great canoes take food and powder up our
river, for those who would destroy us."

Menard was still looking upward. "My brother," he said, speaking
slowly, "was once a young brave. When he was called before his great
chief, and commanded to go out and fight to save his village and his
brothers and sisters, did he say to his chief: 'No, my father, I will
no longer obey your commands. I will no longer strive to become a
famous warrior of your nation. I will go away into the deep
forest,--alone, without a lodge, without a nation, to be despised
alike by my brothers and my foes?' Or did he go as he was bid,
obeying, like a brave warrior, the commands of those who have a right
to command? Does not the Long Arrow know that Onontio is the greatest
of chiefs, second only to the Great-Chief-Across-the-Water, the father
of red men and white men? If Onontio's red sons are disobedient, and
he commands me to chastise them, shall I say to my father, 'I cannot
obey your will, I will become an outcast, without a village or a
nation?' The Long Arrow is a wise man. He knows that the duty of all
is to obey the father at Quebec."

"The Big Buffalo speaks with wisdom. But it may be he forgets that our
braves have passed him by in the battles of every season since he left
our villages. He forgets that he met a band of peaceful hunters from
our nation, who went into his great stone house because they believed
that his white brothers, if not himself, would keep the word of
friendship. He forgets that they were made to drink of the white man's
fire water, and were chained together to become slaves of the great
kind Chief-Across-the-Water, who loves his children, and would make
them mighty in his land. Is this the father he would have us obey?
Truly, he speaks with an idle tongue."

Menard lay silent. His part in La Grange's treachery, and in carrying
out later the Governor's orders, would be hard to explain. To lay the
blame on La Grange would not help his case, at least until he could
consult with Father Claude, and be prepared to speak deliberately.

"My brother does not reply?"

"He will ask a question," replied Menard. "What is the will of the
chiefs to do with the sons of Onontio?"

"The Big Buffalo has seen the punishment given by the Onondagas to
those who have broken their faith."

"I understand