“We’ll take it to Tanacharison,” he said. “Tanacharison is wise. Maybe it ought to be burned.”
They took it to Tanacharison, and Tanacharison examined it. He could make nothing of it, and none of the English could make anything of it—for the very good reason that it was written in French. Evidently this plate was a mischief plate.
“Let us send it to the head council at Onondago,” said Tanacharison. “They will show it to wise English who will read it, and then we will know the designs of the French from Onontio.”
White Thunder set off with the plate carefully wrapped in deer skin, for Onondago of New York.
When he returned he reported that Colonel William Johnson, the great white Mohawk brother in the Six Nations, had read the plate. The words on the plate were very bad; wherever these plates were buried they would blast the land and the Indians would sicken and die. He advised his brothers of the Ohio to have nothing whatever to do with the French.
III
THE MINGOS SEND FOR HELP
It was the hunting season again—the month of Fat Deer, when the leaves were beginning to fall and the flies had been killed by the first frost. No more French had been seen, but no English had come yet to build a fort.
The Mingos, the Delawares and Shawnees of Logstown were getting ready to start out on the hunt and kill meat for winter. Soon there would be only a few old persons left in Logstown. But Tanacharison spoke to Robert.