They have begged us for mercy. They have promised
to be the dutiful and obedient children of the English king if we will
lay down the hatchet and fight against them no more. They have given us
their guns, their forts, and all the land of Canada. I have come into
your country to take Detroit. I shall not fight with your brothers, the
French; I shall not shoot them. I shall show their commander a paper and
he will pull down his flag and he and his men will come out of the fort
and give me their guns. Then I shall go in with my men and put up my
flag.

"The English king is terrible in war. He could punish the Indians and
make them cry for mercy, as he has the French. But he is kind and offers
to his red children the chain of friendship. If you accept it he is
ready to shut his eyes to the mischief the French have put you up to in
the past, and to protect you with his strong arm."

Pontiac listened gravely to every word the white man spoke. But his dark
face gave no token of what was passing in his mind. Now, Indians despise
rashness, and it is their custom to deliberate over night before
answering any important question. So, with the dignity of one who knows
no fear and craves no favor, the greatest councilor of the Ottawas
replied simply: "Englishmen, I shall stand in your path till morning. In
the meantime if your warriors are cold or hungry the hands of my people
are open to you." Then he and his chiefs withdrew, and slipped silently
back through the dripping forest to their camp.

The English rangers slept with their guns at hand that night. They knew
the pride and might and treachery of Pontiac, and they feared him. They
felt as if they were in a trap, with the raging sea before them and the
forest alive with pitiless savages behind.

But they need have had no fear, for the great chief thought not of
massacre that night. He thought of the English who stood ready to avenge
any harm done to their brothers; of his own race dependent on the white
men for rum, for wampum, for guns and powder and bullets. Clearly the
Indians must have friends among the palefaces. The French were their
"brothers." They had given them presents, had married their maidens, had
traded, hunted, and gone to battle with them. The English were their
foes. But they were many and strong. They had beaten the French and
taken their guns. The red men must let their hatred sleep for awhile.
They would smoke the pipe of peace with the English, and the E