o
hate the English no less than the Indians did.

It is said that Pontiac planned to use the French to help him conquer
the English, and then intended to turn upon them and drive them away. No
doubt if the French had openly claimed the territory of the Indians, or
in any way had shown that their professions of friendship were false,
Pontiac would have been their enemy. But he evidently took them at their
word and looked upon them as friends who wished to help his people.

In all his dealings with the French, Pontiac was true and honorable. He
joined them in their wars against the English. He and his Ottawas helped
to defeat the British regulars under General Braddock at Fort Duquesne.
He saved the French garrison at Detroit from an attack by hostile
Indians. He trusted them when all appearances were against them. His
acceptance of the peace offered by Major Rogers on the shore of Lake
Erie was not a betrayal of the French. Pontiac did not forsake their
cause until they had given it up themselves. He took a step which seemed
for the best interests of his own people, and, at the same time, not
hurtful to the French. We have seen that he was disappointed in the
reward he expected.

The English, having subdued the French, felt able to manage the Indians
without difficulty. They were, therefore, more careless than ever about
pleasing them. They refused to give the supplies which the French had
been accustomed to distribute among the Indians. The Indians were
obliged to provide for themselves, as in the days of Pontiac's
childhood. They had no powder or bullets and the young men had lost
their skill with the bow. There was suffering and death for want of
food.

Even Pontiac had been willing to profit by the generosity of the French.
He had not only cheered himself with their firewater, but, like other
Indians, he had been glad to give up his bow and arrow for a gun; he had
been ready to accept corn and smoked meats in winter when game was
scarce, and to protect himself from the cold with the Frenchmen's
blankets.

[Illustration: INDIAN WEAPON]

He realized now that in adopting the white men's customs, in using their
food and blankets and arms, his people had become dependent upon them.
He remembered the stories he had heard in his childhood about the might
of the Ottawas in the days when they depended on the chase for their
food, and fought their battles with bows and arrows and stone hatchets.
He wished his people wo