Briefly, sneeringly, and bitterly Laulewasikaw replied:
“Dared the Shawnees disobey the commands of the Great Spirit? If so, let them abide the consequences, which would prove swift and terrible.”
Seeing himself defeated, Tecumseh turned his back upon his brother, and commanded the voting to proceed.
The sole ballot, a great club, upon which were carved many devices intelligible only to the savage mind, was handed to the nearest warrior. Around the circle it swiftly passed. Those who decided for death by crawling the gantlet, struck the earth once with the club; those who decided for the dreadful doom pronounced by the sorcerer, bestowed two blows upon terra-firma.
Our friends held their breath as the club went round the living, doomful circle, and ere it returned to him who first handed it, they read the decision.
Nearly twenty braves had the manhood to sustain Tecumseh’s honor; but the others, slaves to the prophet’s cunning, decided the vote.
Flayed alive and then burned!
The result was hailed with gleeful shouts by the concourse of squaws assembled beyond the circle of warriors.
“To the strong lodge with the prisoners!” commanded Tecumseh, vainly trying to bridle his rage. “Great Spirit, know that Tecumseh does not sanction the work of Watchemenetoc.”
Among the braves who sprung forward to obey his command was the renegade, who did not attempt to conceal his triumph.