cannot think of it! My uncle went to the
officers, and bid them interfere; but they only shrugged their
shoulders, and said they must not anger the Indians, or they would
desert, and become even more troublesome than they are already. He
got them out of their hands himself, and sent them safely to
Montreal; and oh, how he spoke to the French soldiers and officers
afterwards! He said that such wicked disregard of the bond betwixt
Christian and Christian must inevitably draw down the wrath of
Heaven upon those who practised it, and that no cause could prosper
where such things were permitted.

"I have heard things since I have been here that have filled my
heart with sorrow and anger. I have been ashamed of my countrymen!
I have felt that our foes are nobler than ourselves, and that God
must surely arise and fight for them if these abominations are
suffered to continue."

The Rangers were silent; they well knew what she meant. The French
were culpably weak where the Indians were concerned, permitting
them almost without remonstrance to burn their prisoners from the
English lines, and even after engagements leaving the English dead
and wounded to the Indians and the wolves, though the English
always buried the French dead with their own when they had been in
like circumstances, and had showed kindness to their wounded.

"The Indians are the plague of the lives of men and officers
alike," continued the girl, breaking forth in animated fashion.
"They eat up a week's rations in three days, and come clamouring
for more. They make rules for the English which they will not
observe themselves. They are insolent and disgusting and
treacherous. Oh, I cannot think how our people bear it! I would
sooner lose all than win through using such tools. I hate to think
of victory obtained by such means. You Rangers are brave men;
though men dread you, yet they respect you, and would fain imitate
your prowess. The Indians are devils--I can find no other name for
them. They are fiends, and I verily think that evil will befall us
if we league ourselves with them. Thus my uncle tries to teach; but
they will not listen to his words."

"Time will show, lady," answered Fritz; "and there are Indians who
are gentle and tamable, and are some of them even sincere believers
in our Christian faith. I have seen and lived among such in the
lands of the south. But here they have been corrupted by the vices
of those who should teach them better. It is