light Manitou sends with the snow that makes the dark forest light like the day; the pines bend low with the mighty wind. By the snowflakes the Great Spirit sends to light the earth, the medicineman sees a pale-face stretched upon the ground, lying in his own blood; it is the young chief of the pale-faces, and over him Poniute stands, holding in his hand the scalp he has taken. His arrow is sticking in the flesh of the enemy at his feet.

"But first our enemies must come upon the warpath across the shining water.'

He waved his hand in the direction of the mainland.

“When next the great light of day looks down on the topmost branches of the trees let the young brave go to the wigwam of Cut-was the arrowmaker, and bring back to the lodge of Wee-gon an arrow fashioned long and narrow. Bring bow and quiver, that Wee-gon may make the arrow sure to carry swift death to the heart of his enemy."

"Poniute hears the words of the great medicineman of the Montauks; when the sun touches the hilltops to the west Poniute will come again, bringing the arrow that will drink the life blood of the paleface warrior," returned the young brave, eagerly, "before three times the sun rises Poniute will take his enemy's scalp."

"No! Let Poniute wait; let him close his lips, let his tongue be silent, let him lie in ambush. Weegon has seen the great bow in the sky-it is red with blood; the enemies of the Montauks must come across the water in their war canoes; the soil will drink blood, the forest will ring with the war-whoop of our enemies, for the Evil Spirit will blind the eyes

• Noon.

6

Arrow making was a distinct trade among the Indian tribes.

of the watchman on the great rocks. A moon must pass before the enemies of the Montauks drink blood. Moons must come and go before the white chief lies at the feet of Poniute in the Mah-chon-itchuge. Wee-gon has spoken."

Turning abruptly, the medicine-man vanished within the lodge, and the young warrior was standing alone in the moonlight. The strange conference was ended.

CHAPTER IX

A RED ESAU

"He was the mildest mannered man
That ever scuttled ship, or cut a throat!
With such true breeding of a gentleman,
You never could divine his real thought."

HE village adjacent to the clear lake upon the shore of Manhansett-aha-quasha-warnuck, the summer abode of the Manhansetts, was in a state of unusual, though suppressed excitement.

Within the great council lodge two-score of chieftains and principal men of the tribes were assembled in council with three white men, while outside groups of younger braves and youths were gathered, debating in low murmurs the subject which was under discussion within the council-lodge, the confirmation of the titles to the lands which had been granted by the Earl of Stirling to James Farret, a measure against which the wise old King Poggatticut had set his face as a flint.1

In the power-of-attorney executed by William Alexander, Earl of Stirling, to James Farret, authorising him to dispose of Long Island, he was at liberty to select for his own use 12,000 acres, in consequence of which he made a choice of Shelter Island and Robins Island in Peconic Bay, both of which, on the 18th of May, 1641, he sold to Stephen Goodyear, who afterward conveyed the same to Thomas Middleton, Thomas Rouse, Constant Sylvester and Nathaniel Sylvester, for 1600 wt. good merchantable (Muscovado) sugar.

The grantees procured an immediate confirmation of the title from Yokee, the Manhansett Sachem, and his chief men, who covenanted and agreed at the same time to put away all their dogs, and in case any damage was done to the purchasers by them, to make a proper satisfaction for the same forthwith.

Now the sage was dead; Yo-kee, his son, reigned in his stead, and Wyandance, Sachem of the Montauks, was the staunch friend of the pale-faces.

Would Yo-kee, like a second Esau, sell his birthright for a mess of pottage? That was the question that occupied the thoughts of James Farret, Major Gordon and Lieutenant Kingsland, as they sat in the circle around the fire kindled within the councillodge, each observing the silence and decorum considered essential at all assemblies of the red men.

The circle of Sachems and chief men was complete, and presently Wyandance lighted the calumet, an elaborate specimen of Indian workmanship, and drawing several whiffs, gravely presented it to Farret, who smoked with the deliberation usual upon such occasions, and placed the pipe in Major Gordon's hand.

Guy Kingsland's fastidious taste could ill brook this indiscriminate use of the pipe, but conquering his squeamishness by an effort, he gripped the stem between his teeth, sending forth three successive curls of blue smoke.

In like manner the calumet passed from lip to lip until it had thrice circulated and was returned to Wyandance.

During the ceremony not a sound was heard, not a syllable spoken, but at its conclusion Wyandance, as king of the Totem 2 tribe, arose, and in the terse, but comprehensive speech of his people, explained the purpose for which the council had been convened.

"Listen, my brothers: The Great Spirit has been good to His children and desires that they should live in peace and harmony together. To that end,

2 Totem.-A sort of coat-of-arms among the tribes, without which no signature was held valid by them.

we have smoked the pipe of peace that the friendship of the red man for his pale-faced brother may last as long as grass grows green and water runs downward.

"Listen! I am always glad the Great Spirit gave me hereon to dwell, where the hills are first kissed by the morning sun as he leaves his bed in the land of sunrise beyond the great waters, to bring light and warm His red children, and where I may watch for the coming of the white-winged canoes, and be the first to see and welcome the coming of the white

man.

"Listen! Since the coming of the pale-face brother there have been disputes and misunderstandings about the land. When the Dutch came among us they did not want to buy our land, but bought our furs and wampum, and we knew them as our friends. We are sorry they are gone. But when the English came they told us they wanted whereon to build their wigwams, and to plant corn, and to worship the Great Spirit in their own way.

"Listen! When we had sold them land for this purpose they went away with a smile, for their red brothers had made them glad.

"When they come to us again they bring us strange nothings, parchments that speak with tongues we do not understand, that tell us we have sold all our land to the pale-face, and we are asked to put our mark on them.

"Listen! The pale brother tells us that his Great Father across the big water has given him all the land that we see. How can these things be? How could he give away a land that he has not seen, and that was not his to give, and leave the red man without a home in the land which the Great Spirit had given to his fathers? If it was his to give, why