He looked shrewdly at the boy.
“Yes,” said Henry, “that is so. Somehow we were drawn into it, but being here we are glad to stay. Timmendiquas, the great chief who fought us so fiercely on the Ohio, is with the Iroquois, with a detachment of his Wyandots, and while he, as I know, frowns on the Wyoming massacre, he means to help Thayendanegea to the end.”
Adam Colfax looked graver than ever.
“That is bad,” he said. “Timmendiquas is a mighty warrior and leader, but there is also another way of looking at it. His presence here will relieve somewhat the pressure on Kentucky. I ought to tell you, Henry, that we got through safely with our supplies to the Continental army, and they could not possibly have been more welcome. They arrived just in time.”
The others came forth presently and were greeted with the same warmth by Adam Colfax.
“It is shore mighty good for the eyes to see you, Mr. Colfax,” said Shif'less Sol, “an' it's a good sign. Our people won when you were on the Mississippi an' the Ohio'—an' now that you're here, they're goin' to win again.”
“I think we are going to win here and everywhere,” said Adam Colfax, “but it is not because there is any omen in my presence. It is because our people will not give up, and because our quarrel is just.”
The stanch New Englander left on the following day for points farther east, planning and carrying out some new scheme to aid the patriot cause, and the five, on the day after that, received a message written on a piece of paper which was found fastened to a tree on the outskirts of the settlement. It was addressed to “Henry Ware and Those with Him,” and it read:
“You need not think because you escaped us at Wyoming and on
the Susquehanna that you will ever get back to Kentucky.
There is amighty league now on the whole border between the
Indians and the soldiers of the king. You have seen at
Wyoming what we can do, and you will see at other places and
on a greater scale what we will do.
“I find my own position perfect. It is true that
Timmendiquas does not like me, but he is not king here. I
am the friend of the great Brant; and Hiokatoo, Sangerachte,
Hahiron, and the other chiefs esteem me. I am thick with
Colonel John Butler, the victor of Wyoming; his son, the
valiant and worthy Walter Butler; Sir John Johnson, Colonel
Guy Johnson, Colonel Daniel Claus, and many other eminent
men and brave soldiers.
“I write these words, Henry Ware, both to you and your
comrades, to tell you that our cause will prevail over
yours. I do not doubt that when you read this you will try
to escape to Kentucky, but when we have destroyed everything
along the eastern border, as we have at Wyoming, we shall
come to Kentucky, and not a rebel face will be left there.
“I am sending this to tell you that there is no hole in
which you can hide where we cannot reach you. With my
respects, BRAXTON WYATT.”
Henry regarded the letter with contempt.