Page:History of Delaware County (1856).djvu/144

120 HISTORY OP roasted, using the wliite aslies of our fires as salt, which gave it a delicious relish ; this, Brant liimself showed us how to do. ^^On these flats were found infinite quantities of ground- nuts, a root in form and size about equal to a musket-ball, which, being roasted, became exceedingly mealy and sweet. These, together with our new acquisition of horse-flesh, formed a delicious repast. From this place Brant sent a runner to Niagara, a distance of about eighty miles, to inform the garrison of his approach, and of the number of prisoners he had, their name and quality. This was a most humane act of Brant, as by this means he ef- fected the removal of all the Indian warriors in the two camps contiguous to the fort. Brant was in possession of a secret respecting Harper, which he had carefully concealed in his own breast during the whole journey, and probably, in the very first instance, when he discovered that Harper was his prisoner, operated, by in- fluencing him, if possible, to save his life. This secret con- sisted in the knowledge that there was then in the fort a British ofiicer, who had married a niece of Harper, Jane More, whose mother was the sister of Captain Harper. This girl, together with her mother and sister, had been captured at the massacre of Cherry Valley, and carried to Niagara. This information was conveyed, by means of the runner, to the husband of Jane More, Captain Powell, who, when the girl was first brought by Butler and his Indians a prisoner to the fort, loved, courted, and honorably married her. ^^Now, if Powell wished to save the life of his wife's uncle, he had the opportunity by doing as Brant had suggested, — that was, to send the warriors of both camps down the lake to Nine Mile Landing, with the expectation of meeting Brant there, whose prisoners would be given into their hands, to be decilt with as the genius of their natures and customs might