"
"It is not wise, Tayoga, to give a full rein to a loose tongue in a
public place."
"Our mothers teach us so, Lennox, as soon as we leave our birch bark
cradles."
Willet had raised his hand in warning, but he saw that it was too late.
The young blood in the veins of both Tayoga and Robert was hot, and the
Iroquois was stirred not less deeply than the white man.
"The sachems tell us," he said, "that sometimes a man speaks foolish
words because he is born foolish, again he says them at times because
his temper or drink makes him foolish, or he may say them because it is
his wish to be foolish and he has cultivated foolish ways all his life.
This last class is the worst of all, Lennox, my friend, but there is a
certain number of them in all lands, as one finds when one travels."
The Onondaga spoke with great clearness and precision in his measured
school French and a moment of dead silence followed. Then Robert said:
"It is true, Tayoga. The chiefs of the Hodenosaunee are great and wise
men.
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