hey are in such
danger, how can I stay away? I _must_ be with them."

Elysee seized his wrist in a grip so powerful it startled him. "Listen
to me. You cannot help them. You simply can't get there before matters
are settled, one way or another. And I am sure that when your chief
Black Hawk sees the size of the militia force, he will go peacefully
back across the Mississippi. The Sauk and Fox have many young men. You
are your father's only son. _He_ needs you now."

Auguste's heart ached as he saw the plea in Grandpapa's eyes. How could
he deny the old man? And his father's need for the love of his son in
his last days.

But the thought of thousands of armed and angry whites going to drive
his people out of Saukenuk smote him like a war club. Grandpapa didn't
know Black Hawk; Black Hawk was not likely to yield peaceably. And
whether or not Auguste could be any use at Saukenuk, he had to be there.

Nicole said, "At least see your father and talk to him before you decide
what to do."

Auguste nodded. "Of course." He saw more pain in her face than he could
bear to look at. He turned to stare out at the hills as the carriage
carried them to Victoire.

Now they could see Victoire, the great stone and log house rising out
of the prairie on its low hill. Elysee and Pierre liked to call it a
chateau, but Auguste had learned that it was nothing like the castles in
the land they had come from. And, much as he had marveled at Victoire
when he first saw it, he had seen still bigger and finer houses in New
York. But it was still the grandest house north of the Rock River's
mouth, and Auguste couldn't help feeling proud when he realized that the
blood of the men who built it flowed in his own veins.

Their carriage rattled through the gateway in the split-log fence.
Auguste saw with pleasure that the maple tree that shaded the south side
of the house was bigger than ever.

Most of the servants and field hands were gathered before the front door
to greet Auguste. He remembered how they had assembled this way six
years ago, when Star Arrow first brought him here from Saukenuk.

Every time he thought of Saukenuk, of his beleaguered people surrounded
by an enemy army, his breathing grew fast and shallow.

But he was frightened, too, by the silence of the house. It whispered of
his father's dying. He must face Pierre's death and suffer with him now.
Auguste wanted to rush upstairs to Pierre and hold him tight. And also
he did n