Smoke from the central hearth hung thick within the council house, mingling with the odor of burnt tobacco on its way to flowing out through the chimney-hole in the bark ceiling. Hokolesqua, High Sachem of the Shaawanaki, had all his council seated on log benches around the fire while he presided over them from his oak-stump throne. Opposite him across the hearth stood the young scout whose report had prompted the meeting to begin with, while servant girls went around distributing bowls of berries and me...