the valley of
Ohezuhyeandawa (the Ohio), and shall we give it up, merely because Clark
comes against it with a thousand men? Bowman came last year, but you
beat him off and killed many of his men. The soldiers of the king have
failed us as we feared. The promises of de Peyster and Caldwell have not
been kept, but we can win without them!"

He paused and swung the great war tomahawk. The firelight tinted red the
glittering blade, and it made a circle of light as he whirled it about
his head. A murmur ran around the circle, and swelled into a chorus of
approval. These were the words that appealed to the hearts of the
warlike tribes, but Simon Girty, crafty, politic and far-seeing, arose.

"Your words are those of a brave man and a great leader, Timmendiquas,"
he said, speaking in Shawnee, "but there are many things that the chiefs
must consider. When the white men are slain, others come from the East
to take their places; when our warriors fall their lodges stay empty and
we are always fewer than before. You were across the mountains,
Timmendiquas, with the chief of the Iroquois, Thayendanegea, and so was
my friend who sits here by my side. The Iroquois fought there on the
Chemung River, and brave though they were, they could not stand against
the Yengees and their cannon. They were scattered and their country was
destroyed. It would have been better had they fallen back, fighting
wherever they could lay a good ambush.

"Now Kentucky comes against us in great force. It is not such an army as
that which Bowman led. They are all trained, even as our own, to the
forest and its ways. This army, as it marches, looks before and behind,
and to right and to left. It will not stick its head in a trap, and when
its cannon thunder against your Chillicothe, smashing down your houses
and your lodges, what will you do? Clark, who leads the men from
Kentucky, has beaten our allies, the British, at Vincennes and
Kaskaskia. Hamilton, the governor at Detroit before de Peyster, was
captured by him, and the Yengees held him a prisoner in Virginia. This
Clark is cunning like the fox, and has teeth like the wolf. He is the
winner of victories, and the men from Kentucky are ready to fight around
him to the last."

Another murmur came from the circle and it also indicated approval of
Girty's words. Always greatly influenced by oratory, the opinion of the
chiefs now swung to the latest speaker. Timmendiquas flashed a look of
scorn at Girty a