"Remember," continued the priest, "the prophecy of the child of the sky, Tohganawetah, when our fathers, under his counsels, joined themselves together in a perpetual league, a lifetime before a paleface was seen in the land. He said, 'When the white throats shall come, if ye suffer dissensions among yourselves, ye shall pull down the Long House of the Five Nations, cut down the tree of peace, and extinguish the council fire forever.' And wilt thou, brother of the Snake, bring this cloud upon thy people? Thou shalt search for him who spilt thy brother's blood till the moon have changed, and waxed and waned again, and then thou shalt come before the sachems of the eight totems and make manifest that thou hast not been able to find him or any of his kindred. Then shall the sachems choose a paleface for the sacrifice, and let him die the death of a warrior by the stroke of the tomahawk; but they shall make no delay, for thy brother must not be shut out from the hunters gone before, more than two moons. Hiro! I have spoken."
"Houé, houé! It is well!" said all the Indians present but one, and, rising from their seats, they raised the roll of their law reverently, and one by one glided down the path which led to the opening of the dell.
CHAPTER XVI
Slowly up the steep middle street of Albany walked the great, powerful form of the Woodchuck, about the hour of noon. He was clothed in his usual shaggy habiliments of the forest, with his rifle on his shoulder, his hatchet and his knife in his belt. His steps had none of the light activity, however, of former times, and his face, which always had a grave and sedate air, was now covered with heavy gloom.
Altogether he was a very singular-looking man; but--though situated inland, and in one of the most central situations of the provinces--the streets of Albany, from time to time, presented so many strange figures of different kinds, what between Indians, negroes, half-breeds, scouts, soldiers, sailors, Dutchmen, Englishmen, and hunters, that the wanderer, however odd his appearance, attracted very little attention as he went. Slowly he found his way up to the gates of the fort, and easily obtained admission to the person he sought. He found him in a mere barrack-room, with the simplest possible furniture, and no ornament whatever to distinguish it as the dwelling of a man of distinction. The little camp bed in one corner of the room, the plain deal table, not even painted, at which he sat writing, the two or three hard wooden stools, without backs, were all such as might have been used in a camp or carried with an army without adding much to the impedimenta; and yet there was something about the young nobleman himself which instantly informed a visitor that he was in the presence of no common man. He turned his head as Woodchuck entered, and as soon as he perceived who it was, he nodded, saying: "Immediately, immediately," and resumed his writing.
Captain Brooks drew a stool to some distance and fixed his eyes first of all upon the young soldier, seeming to examine his countenance and form with great care. He then turned to another person whom the room contained, and scanned him with great accuracy. That person was an Indian, if one might judge by complexion and features, and yet he was dressed like one of the followers of the British army. The sort of hunting tunic he wore was not the ordinary ga-ka-ah or Indian shirt, but a mere sort of cloth frock, with sleeves, fastened round his waist by a leathern belt. It was of a peculiar color, then very much worn both by men and women, of the hue of dead leaves, and called philomot; and on his head he wore a curious sort of cap of untanned leather, much of the same hue. It was certainly a well-devised dress for the purpose of concealing a wanderer through the woods in the autumn season; but as I have before said, it was assuredly not Indian, and the long hair, though black as jet, with a slight shading of moustache upon the upper lip, showed that in all probability there was some white blood in his veins, though not at all apparent on the surface. The man had much of the Indian impassible gravity, however, and though he must have seen that he was undergoing a very severe scrutiny by the eyes of Woodchuck, no movement of any of the muscles of the face betrayed his consciousness, and he remained still and statue-like, with his gaze turned earnestly forward upon Lord H----.
The young nobleman soon concluded his letter, and beckoning the man up, placed it in his hands with some money. "Take that to Mr. Prevost," he said, "and tell him, moreover, that I shall myself be up to-morrow, before nightfall."
"Stay a moment," said Woodchuck. "I may have something to say, too, that will make changes. I guess the half-breed had better wait outside a bit."
"Go down to the guard-room," said Lord H----, turning to the man, "and wait there till I send for you." Then giving an inquiring look to Woodchuck, he added: "He tells me he can reach Mr. Prevost's house this night, if he sets out at once."
"To be sure he can," answered Woodchuck. "If he's the man I believe him to be, he'd go half as fur ag'in."