The records of all wars with savages betray a strange blindness on the part of the whites to the signs of danger around them. This blindness may be due to their unwillingness to believe ill of those who have acted well for a long time, but none the less, it is hard to understand why it should deceive those who ought to be the last ones in the world to be caught off their guard in such surroundings. Ensign Holmes had charge of the small garrison at Fort Miama, where Fort Wayne, Indiana, now stands. One day, an Indian of the neighborhood, who had shown a strong liking for the officer, came to him with the war belt that had been brought to his tribe by one of Pontiac's messengers. The Ensign's suspicions were roused, and he questioned his dusky friend closely. He revealed the whole plot. [Illustration: THE INDIAN MASSACRE IN WYOMING VALLEY, PENNSYLVANIA. On July 3, 1778, Major Butler, commanding a force of Indians, British and Tories, descended upon the beautiful Wyoming Valley, in Pennsylvania, to dispossess the Continentals. The Indians could not be restrained and a brutal massacre of men, women and children followed the battle.] [Illustration: CHIEF BRANDT AND HIS INDIANS MASSACRE THE SETTLERS. Cherry Valley, New York, was the scene of a sudden attack by the Indians in 1778, when women and children were murdered in presence of their husbands and fathers.] Holmes sent the war belt to Major Gladwyn, commandant at Detroit, with a letter telling all that he had learned, and asking him to send the news to General Amherst. Mischief was in the air, and precautions could not be taken too soon. Gladwyn, as requested, sent a runner to Amherst, bearing a letter which told what Ensign Holmes thought he had found out. The major took pains to add that he did not credit the story and was sure there was no danger! It was the same old blunder that has been made times without number, and doubtless will continue to be made to the end of all things. [Illustration: OLD WAY OF BROILING FISH From the Original Drawing in the British Museum, made by John White in 1585.]