The truth was driven home at last upon the Cherokees that only one way of escaping destruction was left to them: that was to make peace with the whites on the best terms they could get. When the force reached Fort George, twenty chiefs begged a meeting with the colonel. The proud Great Warrior was not with them, for he would have died before asking mercy of the invaders, but Little Carpenter was at the head of the party. He was known to the commandant who received him and his companions with fitting honors, and accepted the statement that he spoke for his whole people. Addressing the officer, Little Carpenter said: "You live at the water side and are in light. We are in darkness, but hope that all will yet be clear. I have been going about all the time doing good, and though I am tired, yet I come to see what can be done for my people who are in great distress." At this point the chief handed over the belts of wampum which he had brought from the different towns as prayers for peace. "As to what has happened," continued Little Carpenter, "I believe it has been ordered by our Father above. We are of a different color from the white people. They are superior to us. But one God is father of us all, and we hope what is past will be forgotten. God made all people. There is not a day that some are not coming into and others going out of the world. The Great King told me the path should never be crocked, but open for every one to pass and repass. As we all live in one land, I hope we shall all love as one people." Anxious as the Cherokees were for peace, and strongly as Little Carpenter had striven from the first to bring it about, it must not be thought that he was lacking in personal or moral courage. None but the bravest of men would have dared to withstand the terrible Great Warrior and the large majority of his tribe, as this chief did again and again. So at the present time, when the English leader of the expedition stated terms on which he would give peace to the Indians, Little Carpenter rejected one condition: that was the surrender of four Cherokees, specially noted for their cruelties, and their execution in front of the camp. The chief closed his lips and shook his head. The colonel persisted. It was the only condition over which there was any hitch. "I will insist," continued the officer; "take a day to think it over; you and all your people have asked for peace; these four men deserve death, and you ought not to let a little matter like that stand in the way." On the day following, the colonel asked Little Carpenter for his decision. "I gave it yesterday," he replied.