Chapter XVI. The Great Test

by Joseph A. Altsheler

　　While Robert and Willet had been glad hitherto that the council of thefifty sachems had delayed its meeting, they were anxious, now thatFather Drouillard had come, to hasten it. That the army and the church,that is the French army and the French church, were in close alliance,they soon had full proof. The priest and the chevalier were muchtogether, and Robert caught an occasional flash of exultation in St.Luc's eyes.

　　The new influence was visible also among a minority of the Onondagas.The faith of the converts was very strong, and Father Drouillard was tothem not only a teacher but an emblem also, and through him, aFrenchman, they looked upon France as the chosen country of the new Godwhom they worshiped. And Father Drouillard never worked harder than inthose fateful days. His thin face grew thinner, and his lean figureleaner, but the fire in his eyes burned brighter. The fifty sachems saidnothing. Whether they were for the priest or against him, they neverinterfered with his energies, because without exception they respectedone who they knew sought nothing for himself, who could endure hardship,privation and even torture as well as they, and who also had the giftof powerful and persuasive speech.

　　The other nations too, except one, listened to him, though less than theOnondagas. The fierce and warlike Mohawks would have none of him, norwould they allow St. Luc to speak to them. Never could a single Mohawkwarrior forget that Stadacona was theirs, though generations ago it hadbecome French Quebec. They recalled with delight the numerous raids theyhad made into Canada, and their many wars with the French. Robert sawthat one nation, and it was the one standing on an equality with theOnondagas, was irreconcilable. When the council met the nine sachems ofthe Mohawks, and their names would be called first, would provethemselves to the last man the bitter and implacable enemies of theFrench. So, feeling that he was right and loving his own country as muchas the priest and the chevalier loved theirs, he deftly worked upon theminds of the Mohawks. He talked to the fiery young chief, Daganoweda, oflost Stadacona that he had seen with his own eyes. He spoke of its greatsituation on the lofty cliffs above the grandest of rivers, and hedescribed it as the strongest fortress in America. The spirit of theyoung Mohawk responded readily. Robert's appeal was not made toprejudice. He felt that truth and right were back of it. As he saw it,the future of the Hodenosaunee lay with the English, the French couldnever be their real friends, the long breach between Quebec and the valeof Onondaga could not be healed.

　　He had an able and efficient assistant in Tayoga, who was devoted tothe alliance with the English and the Americans, and who was constantlytalking with the sachems and chiefs. Willet, too, who had a longacquaintance with all the nations of the Hodenosaunee, and who had manyfriends among them, used all his arts of persuasion, which were by nomeans small, and thus the battle for the favor of the Iroquois went on.The night before the council was to be held, Tayoga, his black eyesflashing, came to Robert and the hunter and they talked together for along time.

　　The great council was held the next day in the grove devoted to thatpurpose, the entire ceremony being Greek in its simplicity and dignity,and in its surroundings. The fifty sachems, arrayed in their finestrobes, sat once more in a half circle, save that Tododaho, the Onondaga,was slightly in front of the others, with Tonessaah at his elbow. Thenine Mohawk chiefs, fierce and implacable, sat close together, and longbefore the appeals of England and France were begun Robert knew how theywould vote.

　　The effort that he would make had already taken definite shape in hismind. He would be moderate, he would not ask the Hodenosaunee to fightfor the English and Americans, he would merely ask the great nations torefuse the alliance of the French, and if they could not find it intheir hearts to take up the tomahawk for their old friends then toremain at peace in their villages, while English and French fought forthe continent.

　　Spring was now far advanced. Robert had never seen the forest in deepergreen and he had never looked up to a bluer sky than the one that bentover them, as they walked toward the council grove. His heart wasbeating hard, but it was with excitement, not with fear. He knew that agreat test was before him, but his mind responded to it, in truth sprangforward to meet it. The breeze that came down from the hills seemed towhisper encouragement in his ears, and the words that he would speakwere already leaping to his lips.

　　A great crowd, men, women and children, was gathered about the grove,and like the sachems they were clothed in their best. Brilliant red,blue or yellow blankets gleamed in the sun's rays, and the beads onleggings and moccasins of the softest tanned deerskin, flashed andglittered. Robert, with his memories of the Albany school still fresh,thought once more of the great Greek and Roman assemblies, where all thepeople came to hear their orators discuss the causes that meant most.And then his pulse leaped again and his confidence grew.

　　Tododaho spoke first, and when he rose there was a respectful silencebroken only by the murmurs of the wind or the heavy breathing of themultitude. In a spirit of love and exhortation he addressed his people,all of the six great nations. He told them that the mighty powers beyondthe sea, England and France, who with their children divided nearly thewhole world between them, were about to begin war with each other. Thelands occupied by both bordered upon the lands of the Hodenosaunee, andthe storm of battle would hover over all their castles and over the valeof Onondaga. It was well for them to take long and anxious thought, andto listen with attention to what the orators of the English and theFrench would have to say.

　　Then Father Drouillard spoke for France. He made an impressive figure,wrapped in his black robe, his eyes burning like coals of fire in histhin, dead white face. Near him on the right, his Onondaga converts weregathered, and he frequently looked at them as he told the fifty sachemsthat France, the greatest and strongest son of Holy Church, was theirbest friend, and their fitting ally. Such was the thread of hisdiscourse. He struck throughout the priestly note. He appealed not aloneto their sense of right in this world, but to the deeds they must do toinsure their entrance into the world to come. France alone could leadthem in the right path, she alone thought of their souls.

　　The priest spoke with intense fervor, using the tongue of the Indianswith the greatest clearness and purity. His sincerity was obvious.Neither Robert nor Willet could doubt it for an instant, and they saw,too, that it was making an impression. Deep murmurs of approval cameoften from the converts, and now and then the whole multitude stirred inagreement. But the fifty sachems, all except the nine Mohawks, sat asexpressionless as stones. The Mohawks did not move, but the stern,accusing gaze they bent upon the priest never relaxed. As Robert hadforeseen, the most eloquent orator might talk a thousand years, and hecould never bring them a single inch toward France.

　　Willet followed the priest. He attempted no flights. He left the futureto itself and emphasized the present and the past. He recalled thefacts, so well known, that the English had always been their friends,and the French always their enemies. The English had kept their treatieswith the Hodenosaunee, the French could not be trusted.

　　The hunter, too, received applause, much of it, and when he finished hetook his position in the audience beside Tayoga. Then the Chevalier deSt. Luc stood before the fifty sachems, as gallant and as handsome afigure as one could find in either the Old World or the New, clothed ina white uniform faced with gold, his hair powdered and tied in a knot,his small sword, gold hilted, by his side.

　　The chevalier knew the children of the forest, and Robert recognized atonce in him an antagonist even more formidable than he had expected. Hisappeal was to the lore of the woods and to valor. The French adaptedthemselves to the ways of the forest. They practiced the customs of theIndians, lived with them and often married their women. They could growand flourish together, while the Englishmen and the Bostonnais heldthemselves aloof from the red men, and pretended to be their superiors.The French soldier and the Indian warrior had much in common, side byside they were invincible, and together they could drive the Englishinto the sea, giving back to the red races the lands they had lost.

　　He was a graceful and impassioned speaker, and he, too, made hisimpression. The principal point of his theme, that the French alonefraternized with the Indians, was good and all were familiar with thefact. He returned to it continually, and when he sat down the applausewas louder than it had been for either Willet or the priest. It wasevident that he had made a strong appeal, and the Onondaga and Senecasachems regarded him with a certain degree of favor, but the nine fierceand implacable Mohawk sachems did not unbend a particle.

　　Then Robert rose. Despite the fewness of his years, the times and hardcircumstance had given him wisdom. He was surcharged, too, with emotion.He was yet an Iroquois for the time being, despite his white face. Hestill saw as they saw, and felt as they felt, and while he wished themto take the side of Britain and the British colonies, or at least notjoin the side of France and the French colonies, he was moved, too, by adeep personal sympathy. The fortunes of the Hodenosaunee were dear tohim. He had been adopted into the great League. Tayoga, as the redpeople saw it, was his brother in more than blood.

　　He trembled a little with emotion as he looked upon the gravehalf-circle of the fifty sachems, and the clustering chiefs behind them,and then upon the people, the old men, the warriors, the women and thechildren. As he saw them, they were friendly. They knew him to be one ofthem by all the sacred rites of adoption, they knew that he had foughtby the side of the great young warrior Tayoga of the clan of the Bear,of the nation Onondaga, of the mighty League of the Hodenosaunee, andafter the momentary silence a deep murmur of admiration for the lithe,athletic young figure, and the frank, open face, ran through themultitude.

　　He spoke with glowing zeal and in a clear, beautiful voice that carriedlike a trumpet. After the first minute, all embarrassment and hesitationpassed away, and his gift shone, resplendent. The freshness and fervorof youth were added to the logic and power of maturer years, and goldenwords flowed from his lips. The Indians, always susceptible to oratory,leaned forward, attentive and eager. The eyes of the fifty sachems beganto shine and the fierce and implacable Mohawks, who would not relax aparticle for any of the others, nodded with approval, as the speakerplayed upon the strings of their hearts.

　　He dwelled less upon the friendship of the English than upon thehostility of the French. He knew that Champlain and Frontenac were faraway in time, but near in the feelings of the Hodenosaunee, especiallythe Mohawks, the warlike Keepers of the Eastern Gate. He said that whilethe French had often lived with the Indians, and sometimes had marriedIndian women, it was not with the nations of the Hodenosaunee, but withtheir enemies, Huron, Caughnawaga, St. Regis, Ojibway and other savagesof the far west. Onontio could not be the friend of their foes and theirfriends also. Manitou had never given to any man the power to carrywater on both shoulders in such a manner.

　　The promises of the French to the great nations of the League had neverbeen kept. He and Willet, the hunter whom they called the Great Bear,and the brave young warrior, Tayoga, whom they all knew, had justreturned from the Stadacona of the Mohawks, which the French had seized,and where they had built their capital, calling it Quebec. They hadcovered it with stone buildings, palaces, fortresses and churches, but,in truth and right, it was still the Stadacona of the Mohawks. WhenTayoga and Willet and he walked there, they saw the shades of the greatMohawk sachems of long ago, come down from the great shining stars onwhich they now lived, to confound the French, and to tell the childrenof the Ganeagaono never to trust them.

　　Stirred beyond control, a fierce shout burst from the nine Mohawksachems. It was the first time within the memory of the council that anyof its members had given evidence of feeling, while a question laybefore it, but their cry touched a common chord of sympathy. Applauseswept the crowd, and then, deep silence coming again, the oratorcontinued, his fervor and power increasing as he knew now that all thenations of the Hodenosaunee were with him.

　　He enlarged upon his theme. He showed to them what a victorious Francewould do. If Quebec prevailed, the fair promises the priest and thechevalier had made to the Hodenosaunee would be forgotten. Even as theMohawks had lost Quebec and other villages they would lose now theircastles, the Upper, the Lower and the Middle, the Cayugas and theOneidas would be crushed, and with them their new brethren theTuscaroras. The French would burst with fire and sword into the sacredvale of Onondaga itself, they would cut down the council grove and burnthe Long House, then their armies would go forth to destroy the Senecas,the Keepers of the Western Gate.

　　The thousands, swayed by uncontrollable emotion, sprang to their feetand a tremendous shout burst from them all. St. Luc, seeing theHodenosaunee slipping from his hands and from those of France, leapedup, unable to contain himself, and cried:

　　"Do not listen to him! Do not listen to him! What he says cannot come topass!"

　　The people were in a turmoil, and the council strove in vain for order,but the young speaker raised his hand and silence came again.

　　"The Chevalier de St. Luc and Father Drouillard, who have spoken to youin behalf of France, are brave and good men," he said, "but they cannotcontrol the acts of their country. They tell you what I say cannot cometo pass, but I tell you that it can come to pass, and what is more ithas come to pass. Behold!"

　　He took from beneath his deerskin tunic a tomahawk, large and keen, andheld it up. Its shining blade was stained red with the blood of a humanbeing. The silence was now so intense that it became heavy andoppressive. Everyone in the crowd expected something startling tofollow, and they were right.

　　He swung the tomahawk about in a circle that all might see it, and theblood upon its blade. His feeling for the dramatic was strong upon him,and he knew that the right moment had come.

　　"Do you know whose tomahawk this is?" he cried.

　　The crowd was silent and waiting.

　　"It is the tomahawk of Tandakora, the Ojibway, the friend and ally ofthe French."

　　A fierce shout like a peal of thunder from the crowd, and then the sameintense, waiting silence.

　　"Do you know whose blood stains the tomahawk of Tandakora, the Ojibway,the friend and ally of the French?"

　　A deep breath from the crowd.

　　"It is the blood of Hosahaho, the Onondaga. You knew him well, one ofyour swiftest runners, a skillful hunter, a great warrior, one who liveda truthful and upright life before the face of Manitou. But he is gone.Three nights ago, Tandakora, the Ojibway, the friend and ally of theFrench, with a band of his treacherous men, foully murdered him inambush. But other Onondagas came, and Tandakora and his band had to fleeso fast that he could not regain his tomahawk. It has been brought tothe vale of Onondaga by those who saw Tandakora, but who could notovertake him. It was given by them to Tayoga, whom all of you know andhonor, and he has given it to me as proof of the faith of Onontio.Tandakora and Onontio are brothers. What Tandakora does Onontio doesalso, and the bright blood of Hosahaho, the Onondaga, that stains thetomahawk of Tandakora, the Ojibway, was shed by Onontio as well asTandakora. Behold! Here are the promises of Onontio, written red in theblood of your brother!"

　　An immense tumult followed, but presently Tododaho, first among thesachems, rose and stilled it with uplifted hands. Turning his eyes uponRobert, he said:

　　"You have spoken well, O Dagaeoga, and you have shown the proof of yourwords. Never will the great nations of the Hodenosaunee be the friendsof the French. There is too much blood between us."

　　Then, turning to Chevalier de St. Luc and Father Drouillard, he said:

　　"Go you back to Quebec and tell Onontio that he cannot come to us withpromises in one hand and murder in the other. Our young men will guardyou and see that you are safe, until you pass out of our lands. Go!Through me the fifty sachems speak for the great League of theHodenosaunee."

　　The chevalier and the priest, disappointed but dignified, left the valeof Onondaga that night, and St. Luc said to Robert that he bore him noill will because of his defeat.

　　Several weeks later, as Robert, Willet, and Tayoga were on their way toAlbany, they heard from an Oneida runner that the English colonials fromVirginia, under young Washington, and the French had been in battle farto the west.

　　"The war has begun," said Willet solemnly, "a war that will shake bothcontinents."

　　"And the Hodenosaunee will not help Onontio," said Tayoga.

　　"And the French may lose Quebec," said Robert looking northward to thecity of his dreams.