the next meeting with the Indians, and at the
first show of hostilities shoot down Brant and the two sachems next him in
authority.

Wagner selected George and Abraham Herkimer, nephews of the general, and
these three were prepared to face the most cruel of deaths, for certain it
was that if they were obliged to make an attack upon the Mohawk chieftain,
every Indian under his command would strive most earnestly to take them
prisoners in order that they be made to suffer death by torture.

How the day passed I hardly know. The soldiers talked among themselves in
whispers, as men do in the presence of death. No one strayed beyond the
limits of the encampment; but all waited in painful suspense for that hour
to come when it should be known whether Joseph Brant was of the mind that
we might return to our homes for the time being, or if he sought
immediately to compass our death through treachery.

Sergeant Corney and I spent our time in trying to soothe Jacob, who
alternately reproached himself for remaining idle at the moment when he
should be straining every nerve to aid his father, and relapsing into
moody silence, which to me was far worse than the angry words.

When another day had come we again marched into the clearing, the three
who had been selected for the dangerous duty of protecting our leader in
case of an outbreak, keeping close by his side.

As I look back now upon what was afterward done throughout the length and
breadth of that peaceful valley of ours, I regret most sincerely that
those young men did not violate the unwritten laws and usages which the
Indians themselves were ever ready to cast aside when it suited their
purpose, and kill the bloodthirsty Brant whether his men showed signs of
enmity or not.

On this occasion we had not long to wait.

Gathering in a semicircle behind General Herkimer as before, we were
hardly in position when Thayendanega, clad in all the bravery of his
savage garb, and, what was most ominous, bedecked in war-paint, strode
into the enclosure, followed by such members of his party as had
accompanied him the day previous.

He did not wait for greetings, but began boastfully, while his painted
fiends were yet taking their places, by saying, abruptly:

"I have five hundred warriors with me, armed and ready for battle. You are
in my power; but as we have been friends and neighbors, I will not take
advantage of you."

Then he made a gesture with his hand, and on the ins