“I do not want you to give me an answer until you have time to counsel. We will part, and when you are ready, if the Great Spirit will bring us together again, let us prove ourselves worthy by speaking and thinking with one heart and one tongue.” Then Colonel Clark and his group left the council, not returning until the Indians sent for him. They had assembled with their peace pipes, and many chiefs made flowery speeches about their intended friendship with the Long-Knives. Later they smoked their peace pipes and offered them to Clark, who went through the pipe-smoking ceremony with them. Jim Hudson knew Indians did not always keep their word; how he hoped Colonel Clark knew it, too. These council meetings went on for days until Jim grew weary of attending them. One morning, however, he was surprised to see two stalwart young Winnebagos present themselves in front of Colonel Clark, then fall to the ground and cover themselves with a blanket. Jim did not know what to make of this and looked questioningly at the colonel. George Rogers Clark’s face did not change expression as he waited to see what would happen next. One of the Winnebago chiefs stepped forward; he explained that these two young men were offering themselves as a sacrifice to atone for what their Winnebago relatives had done at Clark’s headquarters. Colonel Clark did not reply at once, but kept staring at the blanket covering the two men. Jim and the rest waited anxiously, expecting the colonel to order the Winnebagos killed immediately, or at least to be cast into irons. To everyone’s amazement, Colonel Clark rose and ordered the two Indians to stand. Then he took each of them by the hand as brothers and introduced them to his officers and the Frenchmen sitting with his group. A loud murmur of approval arose from the surprised Indians. Still more surprising to Jim was Clark’s order to free the Stinkers who had tried to kidnap him. All during these meetings Jim had looked in vain for the Potawatomis with whom he had spent the winter; he wondered if they had ever arrived in Cahokia. The day after Clark had freed the Stinkers, Jim discovered Chief Minnemung and his clan sitting near the front of the assembly. For a moment he was afraid—would these Potawatomis try to capture him again? Then he glanced at Colonel Clark and realized he was safe where he was. At this council meeting Big Gate, one of the great Potawatomi chiefs, spoke for the entire tribe, saying they were ready to sign a peace treaty with the Long-Knives. When the treaty was signed, Colonel Clark and his staff rose to leave. Suddenly Chief Minnemung barred his path. “Big Long-Knife, chief of all the Long-Knives,” Minnemung began, nodding toward Jim, “this boy ran away from our clan. I planned to adopt him as my own son.” Jim began to tremble when Colonel Clark turned to him, all the while pretending he had never known of Minnemung’s plan. “Jim,” he said sternly, “is this true?”