388 THE. MART YKS. [1649. 



They had learned their fate ah-eady from Huron 

 prisoners, many of whom had made their escape 

 in the panic and confusion of the Iroquois retreat. 

 They described what they had seen, and the con- 

 dition in which the bodies were found confirmed 

 their story. 



On the afternoon of the sixteenth, — the day 

 when the two priests were captured, — Brebeuf 

 was led apart, and bound to a stake. He seemed 

 more concerned for his captive converts than for 

 himself, and addressed them in a loud voice, ex- 

 horting them to suffer patiently, and promising 

 Heaven as their reward. The Iroquois, incensed, 

 scorched him from head to foot, to silence him ; 

 whereupon, in the tone of a master, he threatened 

 them with everlasting flames, for persecuting the 

 worshippers of God. As he continued to speak, 

 with voice and countenance unchanged, they cut 

 away his lower lip and thrust a red-hot iron down 

 his throat. He still held his tall form erect and 

 defiant, with no sign or sound of pain; and they 

 tried another means to overcome him. They led 

 out Lalemant, that Brebeuf might see him tortured. 

 They had tied strips of bark, smeared with pitch, 

 about his naked body. When he saAv the condi- 

 tion of his Superior, he could not hide his agitation, 

 and called out to him, with a broken voice, in the 

 words of Saint Paul, "We are made a spectacle to 

 the world, to angels, and to men." Then he threw 

 himself at Brebeuf 's feet ; upon which the Iroquois 

 seized him, made him fast to a stake, and set fire to 

 the bark that enveloped him. As the flame rose, 



