the Long House have heard the promises of
Onontio, and they have seen the fork in his tongue. And so they
choose this time to speak of corn and squaws and children." The
keen, closely set eyes slowly lowered and swept around the circle.
"Is this the time to speak of corn? Our Manitou has sent this
Great Mountain into our country. He has placed him in our hands so
that we may strike, so that we may tell the white man with our
muskets that our Manitou is stern and just, and that no Iroquois
will listen to the idle words of a double tongue."

He paused, readjusted his blanket, and then stood motionless, that all
might digest his words. Then, after a long wait, he went on:--

"There are children to-day in our lodges who can remember the Big
Buffalo, who can remember our adopted son who shared our fires and
food, who shared our hunts, who lived with us as freely as an
Onondaga. We saw him every day, and we forgot that his heart was as
white as his skin, for his tongue was the tongue of an Onondaga. We
forgot that the white man has two tongues. It has not been long, my
brothers,--not long enough for an Onondaga to forget. But the Big
Buffalo is a mangy dog. He forgot the brothers of his lodge. He it was
who took the Onondaga hunters and carried them away to be slaves. But
the Manitou did not forget. He has put this Big Buffalo into our
hands, that we may give him what should be given to the dog who
forgets his master."

Again the Long Arrow paused.

"No; this is not the time to speak of corn. It is not the Senecas who
call us, it is our brothers and their squaws and children. The
Iroquois have been the greatest warriors of the world. They have
driven the Hurons to the far northern forests; the Illinois to the
Father of Waters, two moons' travel to the west; the Delawares to the
waters of the south. They have told the white man to stay within his
boundaries, and he has stayed. They have been kind to the white man;
they have welcomed the holy Fathers into their villages. But now the
Great Mountain makes slaves of the Onondagas. He brings his warriors
across the Great Lake to punish the Senecas and destroy their lodges.
Shall the Long House of the Five Nations turn a white face to this
Great Mountain? Shall the Long House call out in a shaking voice,
'See, Onontio, there are no heads on our arrows, no flints in our
muskets! our hatchets are dull, our knives nicked and rusted! come,
Onontio, and strike us, that we may know y