To the harum-scarum Radisson belong the sole credit and
discredit of the escapade. On his device hung the lives of fifty
innocent men. These men must either escape or be massacred. Of
bloodshed, Radisson had already seen too much; and the youth of
twenty-one now no more proposed to stickle over the means of victory
than generals who wear the Victoria cross stop to stickle over means
to-day.
Radisson knew that the Indians had implicit faith in dreams; so
Radisson had a dream.[7] He realized as critics of Indian customs fail
to understand that the fearful privations of savage life teach the
crime of waste. The Indian will eat the last morsel of food set before
him if he dies for it. He believes that the gods punish waste of food
by famine. The belief is a religious principle and the
feasts--_festins a tout manger_--are a religious act; so Radisson
dreamed--whether sleeping or waking--that the white men were to give a
great festival to the Iroquois. This dream he related to his Indian
father. The Indian like his white brother can clothe a vice under
religious mantle. The Iroquois were gluttonous on a religious
principle. Radisson's dream was greeted with joy. _Coureurs_ ran
through the forest, bidding the Mohawks to the feast. Leaving ambush
of forest and waterfall, the warriors hastened to the walls of
Onondaga. To whet their appetite, they were kept waiting outside for
two whole days. The French took turns in entertaining the waiting
guests.
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