Presently upon the sparkling face of the water there appeared a moving canoe. There was but one, and it was coming directly toward them.
“Hahatonwan! Hahatonwan! (The Ojibways! the Ojibways!)” they exclaimed with one voice, and, grasping their weapons, they hastily concealed themselves in the bushes.
“Spare none—take no captives!” ordered the chief’s son.
Nearer and nearer approached the strange canoe. The glistening blades of its paddles flashed as it were the signal of good news, or a welcome challenge. All impatiently waited until it should come within arrow-shot.
“Surely it is an Ojibway canoe,” one murmured. “Yet look! the stroke is ungainly!” Now, among all the tribes only the Ojibway’s art is perfect in paddling a birch canoe. This was a powerful stroke, but harsh and unsteady.
“See! there are no feathers on this man’s head!” exclaimed the son of the chief. “Hold, warriors, he wears a woman’s dress, and I see no weapon. No courage is needed to take his life, therefore let it be spared! I command that only coups (or blows) be counted on him, and he shall tell us whence he comes, and on what errand.”
The signal was given; the warriors sprang to their feet, and like wolves they sped from the forest, out upon the white, sandy beach and straight into the sparkling waters of the lake, giving the shrill war-cry, the warning of death!
The solitary oarsman made no outcry—he offered no defense! Kneeling calmly in the prow of the little vessel, he merely ceased paddling and seemed to await with patience the deadly blow of the tomahawk.
The son of Tatankaota was foremost in the charge, but suddenly an impulse seized him to stop his warriors, lest one in the heat of excitement should do a mischief to the stranger. The canoe with its occupant was now very near, and it could be seen that the expression of his face was very gentle and even benignant. None could doubt his utter harmlessness; and the chief’s son afterward declared that at this moment he felt a premonition of some event, but whether good or evil he could not tell.
No blows were struck—no coups counted. The young man bade his warriors take up the canoe and carry it to the shore; and although they murmured somewhat among themselves, they did as he commanded them. They seized the light bark and bore it dripping to a hill covered with tall pines, and overlooking the waters of the Great Lake.