The Indians were so much delighted with this message, that many of them set out, soon after, to go in boats to make peace with the white men.  No doubt this humbug of the medicine man was a plan to persuade them to go.  Mr. Henry was taken along to act as their friend.

THE RATTLESNAKE GOD.

Mr. Henry had traveled several days with the Indians going to Fort Niagara to make peace.  One day the wind was blowing so hard that they could not go on.  So they camped on a point in Lake Huron.

While the Indians were building a hut, Mr. Henry was lighting a fire.  He went off a little way to get dry wood, and while he was picking up sticks he heard a strange sound.  It lasted only a little while; but, when Mr. Henry went a little farther, it began again.  He looked up into the air to see where it came from.  Then he looked down on the ground, and saw a large rattlesnake coiled close to his naked leg.  If he had taken one step more, he would have stepped on it, and it would have bitten him.

He now ran back to the canoe to get his gun to kill the snake.

“What are you doing?” asked the Indians.

“I am going to kill a rattlesnake,” he said.

“Oh, no! don’t do that,” they said.

The Indians all got their tobacco bags and pipes, and went to the place where the snake had been seen.  It was still lying in a coil.

[Illustration:  Grandfather Rattlesnake.]

The Indians now stood round the snake, and one after another spoke to it.  They called it their grandfather.  But they took care not to go too close to their grandfather.  They stood oft and filled their pipes with tobacco.  Each one in turn blew tobacco smoke at the snake.  The snake seemed to like it.  For half an hour it lay there in a coil, and breathed the smoke.  Then it slowly stretched itself out at full length, and seemed in a very good humor.  It was more than four feet long.

After having more smoke blown at it, it slowly crept away.  The Indians followed, begging their grandfather, as they called it, to take care of their families while they were gone.  They also asked that the snake would open the heart of the English general so that he would give them a great deal of rum.  One of the chiefs begged the snake to take no notice of the insult offered to him by the white man, who would have killed it if the Indians had not stopped him.  They also begged that it would remain and live in their country.

The Indians thought that the snake was a spirit or god in this form.  They thought that it had been sent to stop them on their way.  They were almost ready to turn back, but Mr. Henry persuaded them to go on.