CHAPTER XV

THE VALE OF ONONDAGA

The heavens favored their journey.  They were troubled by no more storms or rain, and as the soft winds blew, flowers opened before them.  Game was abundant and they had food for the taking.  As they drew near the vale they were joined by a small party of Oneidas, and a little later were met by an Onondaga runner who spoke with great respect to Tayoga and who gave them news.

The Frenchman, St. Luc, and the Canadian, Dubois, who had come with them, were in the vale of Onondaga, where they had been received as guests, and had been treated with hospitality.  The fifty sachems, taking their own time, had not yet met in council, and St. Luc had been compelled to wait, but he had made great progress in the esteem of the Hodenosaunee.  Onontio could not have sent a better messenger.

“I knew that he would do it,” said Willet.  “That Frenchman, St. Luc, is wonderful, and if anybody could convert the Hodenosaunee to the French cause he’s the man.  Oh, he’ll ply ’em with a thousand arguments, and he’ll dwell particularly on the fact that the French have moved first and are ready to strike.  We haven’t come too soon, Robert.”

But the runner informed them further that it would yet be some time before the great council in the Long House, since the first festival of the spring, the Maple Dance, was to be held in a few days, and the chiefs had refused positively to meet until afterward.  The sap was already flowing and the guardians of the faith had chosen time and place for this great and joyous ceremony of the Hodenosaunee, joyous despite the fact that it was preceded by a most solemn event, the general confession of sins.

The eyes of Tayoga and of the Mohawks and Oneidas glistened when they heard.

“We must be there in time for all,” said Tayoga.

“Truly we must, brother,” said Daganoweda, the Mohawk.

And now they hastened their speed through the fertile and beautiful country, where spring was attaining its full glory, and, as the sap began to run in the maples, so the blood leaped fresh and sparkling even in the veins of the old.  A band of Senecas joined them, and when they came to the edge of the vale of Onondaga they were a numerous party, all eager, keen, and surcharged with a spirit which was religious, political and military, the three being inseparably intertwined in the lives of the Hodenosaunee.

They stood upon a high hill and looked over the great, beautiful valley full of orchards and fields and far to the north they caught a slight glimpse of the lake bearing the name of the Keepers of the Council Fire.  Smoke rose from the chimneys of the solid log houses built by this most enlightened tribe, flecking the blue of the sky, and the whole scene was one of peace and beauty.  The eyes of Tayoga, the Onondaga, and of Daganoweda, the Mohawk, glistened as they looked,