All of the great chiefs had assistant chiefs, usually relatives, who, in case of death, often succeeded to their places.

But these assistants now remained in the crowd with other minor chiefs and the mass of the warriors.

A little apart stood Timmendiquas and his Wyandots.

He, too, was absorbed in the ceremony so sacred to him, an Indian, and he did not notice the tall figure of the strange Shawnee lingering in the deepest of the shadows.
The head chiefs, walking solemnly and never speaking, marched across the clearing, and then through the woods to a glen, where two young warriors had kindled a little fire of sticks as a signal of welcome.

The chiefs gathered around the fire and spoke together in low tones.