It is hardly necessary for me to set it down that, some time before this, Thayendanega had been given a commission in the British service.
The messenger nodded gravely, and, after pausing until one might have counted ten, said:
"Thayendanega asks why so many white soldiers are encamped near his village?"
"I have come to see and talk with my brother, Captain Brant," General Herkimer replied, with the same stiff manner as that assumed by the messenger.
"And do all these men want to talk with the chief, too?"
"They have come to bear me company; they are my followers, as Captain Brant has his."
"And do they also call Thayendanega 'brother'?"
"Ay, and they hope he is a brother to them."
The Indian turned slowly in what I thought a most offensive manner, as he looked around at the faces of those who completely encircled him, and then would have moved away, but that General Herkimer asked:
"Is Captain Brant in his village?"