n perfect. It is true that
Timmendiquas does not like me, but he is not king here. I
am the friend of the great Brant; and Hiokatoo, Sangerachte,
Hahiron, and the other chiefs esteem me. I am thick with
Colonel John Butler, the victor of Wyoming; his son, the
valiant and worthy Walter Butler; Sir John Johnson, Colonel
Guy Johnson, Colonel Daniel Claus, and many other eminent
men and brave soldiers.

"I write these words, Henry Ware, both to you and your
comrades, to tell you that our cause will prevail over
yours. I do not doubt that when you read this you will try
to escape to Kentucky, but when we have destroyed everything
along the eastern border, as we have at Wyoming, we shall
come to Kentucky, and not a rebel face will be left there.

"I am sending this to tell you that there is no hole in
which you can hide where we cannot reach you. With my
respects, BRAXTON WYATT."

Henry regarded the letter with contempt.

"A renegade catches something of the Indian nature," he said, "and
always likes to threaten and boast."

But Shif'less Sol was highly indignant.

"Sometimes I think," he said, "that the invention o' writin' wuz a
mistake. You kin send a man a letter an' call him names an' talk mighty
big when he's a hundred miles away, but when you've got to stan' up
to him face to face an' say it, wa'al, you change your tune an' sing a
pow'ful sight milder. You ain't gen'ally any roarin' lion then."

"I think I'll keep this letter," said Henry, "an' we five will give an
answer to it later on."

He tapped the muzzle of his rifle, and every one of the four gravely
tapped the muzzle of his own rifle after him. It was a significant
action. Nothing more was needed.

The next morning they bade farewell to the grateful Mary Newton and
her children, and with fresh supplies of food and ammunition, chiefly
ammunition, left the fort, plunging once more into the deep forest. It
was their intention to do as much damage as they could to the Iroquois,
until some great force, capable of dealing with the whole Six Nations,
was assembled. Meanwhile, five redoubtable and determined borderers
could achieve something.

It was about the first of August, and they were in the midst of the
great heats. But it was a period favoring Indian activity, which was now
at its highest pitch. Since Wyoming, loaded with scalps, flushed with
victory, and aided by