successes would enable them to assume. He stated that the prudence and
vigilance of the commanders of these two unreduced fortresses were
likely long to baffle, as had hitherto been the case, every open
attempt at their capture; and admitted he had little expectation of
terrifying them into a surrender by the same artifice that had
succeeded with the forts on the Ohio and the lower lakes. The plan,
however, which he had to propose, was one he felt assured would be
attended with success. He would disclose that plan, and the great
chiefs should give it the advantage of their deliberation.

Captain de Haldimar was on the rack. The chief had gradually dropped
his voice as he explained his plan, until at length it became so low,
that undistinguishable sounds alone reached the ear of the excited
officer. For a moment he despaired of making himself fully master of
the important secret; but in the course of the deliberation that
ensued, the blanks left unsupplied in the discourse of the leader were
abundantly filled up. It was what the reader has already seen. The
necessities of the Indians were to be urged as a motive for their being
tired of hostilities. A peace was to be solicited; a council held; a
ball-playing among the warriors proposed, as a mark of their own
sincerity and confidence during that council; and when the garrison,
lulled into security, should be thrown entirely off their guard, the
warriors were to seize their guns and tomahawks, with which (the former
cut short, for the better concealment of their purpose) their women
would be provided, rush in, under pretext of regaining their lost ball,
when a universal massacre of men, women, and children was to ensue,
until nothing wearing the garb of a Saganaw should be left.

It would be tedious to follow the chief through all the minor
ramifications of his subtle plan. Suffice it they were of a nature to
throw the most wary off his guard; and so admirably arranged was every
part, so certain did it appear their enemies must give into the snare,
that the oldest chiefs testified their approbation with a vivacity of
manner and expression little wont to characterize the deliberative
meetings of these reserved people. But deepest of all was the approval
of the tall warrior who had so recently arrived. To him had the
discourse of the leader been principally directed, as one whose counsel
and experience were especially wanting to confirm him in his purpose.
He was the last