As Radisson went into the fort, he noticed a
soldier among the Dutch. At the same instant the soldier recognized
him as a Frenchman, and oblivious of the Mohawks' presence blurted out
his discovery in Iroquois dialect, vowing that for all the paint and
grease, this youth was a white man below. The fellow's blundering
might have cost Radisson's life; but the youth had not been a captive
among crafty Mohawks for nothing. Radisson feigned surprise at the
accusation. That quieted the Mohawk suspicions and they were presently
deep in the beer pots of the Dutch. Again the soldier spoke, this time
in French. It was the first time that Radisson had heard his native
tongue for months. He answered in French. At that the soldier emitted
shouts of delight, for he, too, was French, and these strangers in an
alien land threw their arms about each other like a pair of long-lost
brothers with exclamations of joy too great for words.
[Illustration: The Battery, New York, in Radisson's Time.]
From that moment Radisson became the lion of Fort Orange. The women
dragged him to their houses and forced more dainties on him than he
could eat. He was conducted from house to house in triumph, to the
amazed delight of the Indians. The Dutch offered to ransom him at any
price; but that would have exposed the Dutch settlement to the
resentment of the Mohawks and placed Radisson under heavy obligation to
people who were the enemies of New France.
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