"It is well," said the chief, rising again. "Bring forward that man who was taken at our Castle door, last night."
Half a dozen young men sprang upon their feet and speedily brought from the door of a neighboring lodge the half-breed runner Proctor, whom we have seen with Brooks and Lord H---- at Albany. He had a calumet in his hand, the sign of a peaceful mission, and he showed no fear, for he knew that his life would be respected, although he had learned by this time that the Oneidas had been greatly excited by some acts referring to the very object of his mission. Standing in the midst of them, as calm and collected as he had been in the fort at Albany, he hardly gave a glance round the circle, but looked straight, with a cold and inexpressive countenance, at the chief before whom he was placed.
"What hast thou to say?" demanded Black Eagle.
The man remained silent, although there was an evident movement of his lips as if to speak.
"Fear not," said Black Eagle, mistaking the ineffectual effort to speak for a sign of apprehension, although it really proceeded from a habitual unwillingness to hear the sound of his own voice, "thou shalt go in safety, whatever be thy message. Art thou dumb, man? Is thy tongue a stone?"
"I am not dumb--I am not afraid," said the man, with a great effort, "Great chiefs in Albany send me to say, 'Give us the boy?'"
There he stopped, for it had cost him much to utter so many words.
"Were they war chiefs?" demanded Black Eagle, aloud.
The man nodded his head, and Black Eagle asked: "Did they threaten the Oneidas--did they say they would unbury the hatchet?"
The runner shook his head, and the chief asked, "What did they say, then, would befall us if we refused to comply?"