ose; and, as the
Mohawk executioner slipped noiselessly past me, I seized him by the
clout-belt, and, summoning every atom of strength, hurled him headlong
at my feet, so that he lay stunned and like one dead.

A roar of astonishment greeted me; a score of voices cried out savagely
on my violation of the fire.

"It is you who violate it!" I answered, trembling with fury; "you who
dare pronounce the sentence of death without consulting the four
classes of the Oneida!"

A Mohawk sachem arose, casting his scarlet robes at his feet, and
pointed at me, hissing: "Where are the Oneida classes? I dare you to
tell us where the ensigns hide! Where are they? Speak!"

"Here!" I said, tearing my cape open. "Read that sign, O Canienga! I
answer for the four classes of my nation, and I say that Oneida shall
go free! Now let him who dare accuse me stand forth. It is a Wolf of
Tharon who has spoken!"

Absolute silence greeted me. I had risked all on the hazard.

The executioner had staggered to his feet again, and now stood outside
the circle leaning against a young oak-tree, half stunned, mechanically
rubbing the twigs and dead leaves from the sticky black paint that
masked his visage. I wheeled on him and bade him remain where he was
until the council's will was made known; then I walked into the circle;
and when they cried out that I had no franchise, I laughed at them,
challenging them to deny me my right to stand here for the entire
Oneida nation.

For there was nothing now to do but to carry the desperate enterprise
through or perish. I dared not stop to consider; to attempt to remember
precedents. I turned on the Mohawks haughtily, demanding that privilege
which even they could not refuse; I claimed clan-brotherhood from every
Wolf in the Long House; and when the council accorded it, I spoke:

"Now I say to you, O you wise men and sachems, that this Oneida shall
not die, because the four classes speak through my mouth! Who is there
to give me the lie? Why are your eight score Oneidas absent--the eight
score who still remain in the Long House? Surely, brothers, there are
sachems among them? Why are they not here? Do you fear they might not
agree to the punishment of the Oneida nation?"

I folded my arms and stared at the Mohawks.

"Clan ties are close, national ties closer, but strongest and closest of
all, the six iron links that form the Great League! Why do you punish
now? _How_ can you punish now? Is it well to bre