en of the Great Mountain, and his hand is
over them. The Big Buffalo has come from the Great Mountain to tell
you that he will not harm the Cayugas; their fields and lodges are
safe."

There was a stir at this, and then quiet, as the spectators settled
back to hear the rest of Menard's speech. Here was a captive who spoke
as boldly as their own chiefs, who commanded their attention as a
present bearer from the White Chief. And they knew, all of them, from
the way in which he was choosing his words, coolly ignoring the more
important subjects until he should be ready to deal with them, that he
spoke with authority. He knew his auditors, and he let them see that
he knew them.

"The Senecas have listened to the English. What do they expect from
them? Do they think that the English wish to help them? Do they look
for wealth and support from the English? My brothers of the Long House
know better. They have seen the English hide from the anger of the
Great Mountain. They have seen the iron hand of New France reach out
across the northern country, and along the shores of the great lakes,
and down the Father of Waters in the far west, while the English were
clinging to their little strip of land on the edge of the sea. My
brothers know who is strong and who is weak. Never have the fields of
the Five Nations been so rich and so large. No wars have disturbed
them. They have grown and prospered. Do the Senecas think it is the
English who have made them great? No--the Senecas are not fools. They
know that the Great Mountain has driven away their enemies and given
them peace and plenty. My brothers of the Long House remembered this
when the Senecas came to them and asked for aid in stealing the
beaver. They stopped their ears; they knew that Onontio was their
father, and that they must be faithful to him if they wished to have
plenty in their lodges.

"Onontio is a patient father. Let the Senecas repent, and he will
forgive them. Let them bury the hatchet, and he will forgive them. Let
them be satisfied with peace and honest trade, and he will buy their
furs, and give them fair payment. And then their cornfields shall grow
so large that a fleet runner cannot pass around them in half a moon.
They shall have no more famine. Their pouches shall be full of powder,
their muskets new and bright. Their women shall have warm clothing and
many beads. Nowhere shall there be such prosperous nations as here
among the Iroquois. If the Seneca