Mr. Prevost felt already how difficult it was to maintain that equanimity which, in theory, he estimated as highly as an Indian, and in practice strove for, but not infrequently lost. He promised, however, to leave entirely to Sir William Johnson the management of a conference with the chiefs of the Mohawk and Onondaga nations, which had been proposed by that officer himself, for the purpose of inducing the two most powerful nations of the Iroquois to interfere in behalf of Walter, and save him from the fate that menaced him. At the gate of the Castle, the door of which stood open, as usual (for although it was filled with large quantities of those stores which the Indians most coveted, its safety was left entirely to the guardianship of their good faith), the two gentlemen entered the large courtyard, which, on this occasion, was quite deserted, the weather being cold enough now to render some shelter agreeable even to an Indian.
From the open door of the great hall which stretched along the greater part of the whole building, came forth a blaze of light on entering. Sir William Johnson and his companion found a number of Mohawk and Onondaga chiefs assembled, sitting gravely ranged in a semi-circle round the fire. Each was fully clothed in his garb of ceremony, and bright and brilliant were the colors displayed in the dresses and ornaments of the redmen; but as this was a peaceful occasion, their faces were destitute of paint, and the scalp-lock concealed under the brilliant gostoweh, or cap, in many of which were seen the plume of the famous white egret, used to distinguish the chiefs of the different tribes, ever since the feathers of the famous white bird of heaven had been exhausted.
All rose with quiet native dignity when the Indian agent and his companion entered; and a murmur of gratulation ran round while Sir William and Walter's father seated themselves in two large chairs.
"This is our brother," said Sir William Johnson, pointing to Mr. Prevost.
"Hai! hai!" said the Indian chiefs. "Peace! peace! He is our brother."
King Hendrick then approached Mr. Prevost, dressed in his sky-blue coat of European manufacture, presented to him by the reigning monarch of England, and took his hand, saying in a tone of friendly sympathy, and in the English tongue: "Our brother is sad; be comforted."
He then seated himself, and the attotarho, or grand chief of the whole confederacy, an office held in descent by the chief of the Onondaga totem of the Bear, advanced to Walter's father and spoke the same words in Iroquois, showing clearly that the object of the meeting was understood, by the Indian leaders. When all had arranged themselves round again, a silence of some minutes succeeded.
At length the attotarho said, rising to his full height, which might be termed almost gigantic: "Our father has sent for us, and we are obedient children. We are here to hear his sweet words and understand his mind."
Sir William Johnson then, in a speech of very great power and beauty, full of the figurative language of the Indians, related the events which had occurred in the family of Mr. Prevost, and made an appeal to his hearers for counsel and assistance. He represented his friend as an old tree from which a branch had been torn by the lightning, when he strove to depict his desolate state; and then he told a story of a panther, one of whose young ones had been carried off by a wolf, but who, on applying for assistance to a bear and a stag, recovered her young by their means. "The panther was strong enough," he said, "with the aid of the lion, to take back her young ones from the wolf, and to tear it to pieces; but the wolf was of kin to the bear and the stag, and therefore she forebore."
"But the bear is slow, and the stag is not strong when he goes against his kindred," said the attotarho, significantly, "and the lion will never take the warpath against his allies."