Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1904-12-17
Cardigan
BY ROBERT w. CHAMBERS
copyrisht. 1901. BY ROBERT ". CHAMBERS
to rue por,cnns or rne tort ana the te,

commissioners ran like rabbits!
"God forbid that T, humble loyal
subject of my king, should ever. bear
out the work Of rebels or traitors, but
solemnly say to you that the rebels
and traitors are not the counterfeit In.
dams Of Grifin's wharf, not the men
who fired the Gaspee aflame from
spirit to topmast, not that man who set
his back to the fort in New York! But
they are those who whisper evil to my
king at st. James, and may God have
mercy on their souls!n
None burst interrupt him. The off,
GERS watched him silently-this great
man-this great Irishman who had
been the sole architect of his own
greatness, this great American who
saw what we even now cannot see as
clearly as he did.
There he sat, dumb. eyes on vacancy,
plain man, baronet of the British
realm, a member of the kings council.
a major general of militia and the SUI
perintendent of the Indian department
in North America; plain man, but a
vast land holder, the one man in Amer
lea trusted blindly by the Indians,
man whose influence was enormous, a
man who was as simple as a maid, as
truthful as child, as kind as the Sa-
marian who passed not on the other
side.
There was step at the door. Mr..
Duncan spoke in low tone with the
orderly, then returned to Sir William.
''The Indian belt bearer is at the
blockhouse, sir" he said.
Sir William rose. The officers made
their adieus and left. Only Sir VIII
liam, Mistress Molly, Silver Heels and
! remained in the dining hall.
The baronet looked across at Mistress
Molly, and sad smile touched his
eyes.
She took Silver Heels by the hand
and quietly left the room.
Michael" said Sir William, "listen
closely, but remain silent concerning
what this belt bearer has to say. MY
honor is at stake, my son. Promisew
II promise, sir" said I under my
breath.
The next moment the door behind
me opened, and the Indian stole into
the room.
For space the two stood face to
face in silence. Then the belt bearer,
looking warily around at the empty
room, asked why Chief Warragh re-
cefved his brother alone.
my brother comes Alone" replied
Sir William, with emphasis. "1t is the
custom Of the Cayuga to send three
with each belt. Does my brother bear
but fragment o.. one belt? Or does he
think US Of little consequence, that he
comes without attestants?"
II bear three BELTS" said the Indian
haughtily. mine Of my people started
from the Ohio. alone live"
Sir William bowed gravely and, mo-
tioning me to be seated, drew up an
armchair of velvet and sat down, fold
ing his arms in silence.
Then fo. the first time in my life !
Sat at a fguratiye council fire and lis
tened to an orator of those masters of
oratory, the peoples Of the Six Nations.
Dignifed, chary Of gesture, clean,
vet somewhat sad and overgrave Of
speech, the Cayuga, facing the baronet,
related briefly his name, Quider, which
in Iroquois means Peter; his tribe,
which was the tribe Of the Wolf, the
totem being plain on his breast. He
spoke of his journey from the Ohio,
the loss of the eight who had started
with him, all dying from the smallpox
within week. He spoke respectfully
of Sir William as the one man who
had protected the Six Nations from
unjust laws, from incursions, from
white mems violence and deception.
He admitted that Sir William was the
tanned the absolute trust and conf
dence of the Indians, adding that it
was for this reason that he had come.
And then he began his brief speech,
drawing from his pouch a black belt
of wampum:
Brother, with this belt we breathe
upon the embers which are asleep, and
we cause the council fire to burn in
this place and on the Ohio, which are
our proper fireplaces. With this belt
we sweep this fireplace clean, remov-
ing from it oil that is impure, that we
may sit around it as brothers.
Brother, the unhappy oppression Of
our brethren by Colonel Cresap's men
near the Ohio carrying place is the oc-
casion for our coming here Our ma
ton would not be at rest nor easy until
they had spoken to you about it. They
have now spoken with this belt.
Brother, what are we to do? Lord
Dunmore will not hear us. Colonel
Cresap and his men, to whom we have
done no harm, are coming to clear the
forest and cross our free path which lies
from st. Sacrement to the Ohio, and
which path our brothers belts, which
we still possess, have long since swept
clear. What shall we do? Instead of
polishing our knives we have come to
our brother Warragh. Instead of seek
ing our kin, the Mohawk and the Onei-
da, with painted war belts to throw be-
tween us and them, we come to our
brother and ask him by this belt what