With the singular laugh, which was between a hiss and a roar, the Spirit replied by asking: "How know ye that I have delivered you into the toils of your fierce enemies, the Eries?"
"What is the width of the valley into which thy treacherous eye hath decoyed us?" demanded the haughty Chief.
"Scarcely two bowshots," replied the Spirit.
"At its entrance, planted on both sides of the narrow pass, are Eries, well provided with bows and arrows and spears, waiting as a cunning cayman waits in the sedge for the unsuspecting water-duck."
"There are indeed Eries waiting on both sides of the narrow pass, as a cayman waits for a water-duck."
"Then have you led the Nansemonds into a danger from which there are no means of escape?"
"Is there not another end to the valley?"
"There is, and what will it avail? As much as a bow and arrow in the hands of him whose eyes have departed, or a spear in the grasp of a palsied man. Upon each side of the valley, jut far into the lake hills whose precipitous sides no one but a spirit can climb; and where are the canoes which shall transport us to a place of safety?"
"What will the Nansemonds give if the Spirit of Fire will release them from the dangers which encompass them?"
"They will yearly kindle a fire in the time of a high wind, that their deliverer may have the glorious prospect of seeing the dry prairie swept by the devouring flame."