Page:History of Delaware County (1856).djvu/89

 DELAWARE COUNTY. 65 the armed force accompanying him, very sarcastically remarked : ^^And all these men wish to talk with the chief, too The preliminaries of a meeting were now arranged about mid-way between the two encampments, and each commander was ac- companied to the designated spot by a body guard of about fifty men, unarmed. A circle was formed with Brant and Herkimer in the centre. Brant was the first to break the silence, by haughtily inquiring — as the messenger had done before — the object of the visit? In reply to a direct question, as to the intentions of the Mohawks touching the difiiculty of Great Britain and America, the chief replied that : " The Indians were in concert with the king, as their fathers and grandfathers had been; that the king's belts were yet lodged with them, and they could not falsify their pledge. That General Herkimer and the rest had joined the Boston people against their king. That Boston people were resolute, but the king would humble them. That Mr. Schuyler, or Gene- ral, or what you please to call him, was very smart on the Indians at German Flats ; but was not at the same time able to afford them the smallest article of clothing. That the Indians had formerly made war on the white people all united and now they were divided, the Indians were not frightened.'' At the close of this harangue. Colonel Cox, a brave but impulsive young ofiicer, who had accompanied General Herki- mer, remarked, that if that was their determination the mat- ter was ended. The Colonel, it is said, had had difficulty with Brant before the war in relation to some land, and it is highly probable that the same hard feelings still existed between ehem, as the Indians are the last persons in the world to make or receive amends, when the link of friendship is once severed. The haughty chieftain became highly indignant at the decided expression of Cox, and sarcastically asked, if he was not the son-in-law of old George Kloch ? Yes," replied the Colonel, equally sarcastic, ^' and lohat is that to you, you d — d In- 6*