voices as in yours,
Tandakora."

"At last you have found your tongue, youth of the Onondagas. You have
heard the frogs croak, but your voice at the stake will sound like
theirs."

"The flames shall not be lighted around me, Tandakora."

"How do you know?"

"Tododaho has whispered in my ear the promise that he will save me.
Twice has he whispered it to me as we marched."

"Tododaho in life was no warrior of the Ojibways," said Tandakora, "and
since he has passed away he is no god of ours. His whispers, if he has
whispered at all to you, are false. There is less than half an hour in
which you can be saved, and Manitou himself would need all that time."

Tayoga gave him a scornful look. Tandakora was talking sacrilege, but he
had no right to expect anything else from a savage Ojibway. He refused
to reply. They came presently to the little valley that Tandakora had in
mind, an open place, with a tree in the center, and much dead wood
scattered about. Tayoga knew instinctively that this was their
destination, and his heart would have sunk within him had it not been
for the whispers of Tododaho that he had heard on the march. The Ojibway
gave the word and the file of warriors stopped. The hills enclosing the
valley were much higher on the right than elsewhere, and touching Tayoga
on the arm, he said:

"Walk with me to the crest there."

Tayoga, without a word, walked with him, while the other warriors stood
watching, musket or rifle in hand.

The Onondaga, wrists bound behind him, knew that he did not have the
slightest chance of escape, even if he made a sudden dash into the
woods. He would be shot down before he went a dozen steps, and his pride
and will restrained the body that was eager for the trial.

They reached the crest, and Tayoga saw then that the hill itself rose
from a high plateau. When he gazed toward the east he saw a vast expanse
of green wilderness, beyond it a ribbon of silver, and beyond the silver
high green mountains, outlined sharply against a sky of clear blue.

"Oneadatote," said Tandakora.

"Yes, it is the great lake," said Tayoga.

"And if you will turn and look in the other direction you will see where
Andiatarocte lies," said Tandakora. "There are greater lakes to the
west, some so vast that they are as big as the white man's ocean, but
there is none more beautiful than these. Think, Tayoga, that when you
stand here upon this hill you have Oneadatote on one side of you and
Andiat