the other militiamen, were in a fury of frustration. They had to be
content with the poor-second satisfaction of burning the Indian town to
the ground.

To Raoul's great annoyance, instead of pursuing Black Hawk, Gaines sent
a message to the chief asking for yet another parley. Black Hawk and
some of his braves came back across the river to talk peace. Just like
he hadn't shown the whole world what a coward he really was, the
stubborn old Indian had marched up to Gaines's tent walking like a
peacock, with feathers in his hair.

_Hang the redskinned son of a bitch_, was what Raoul thought. Instead,
Gaines just made him sign another fool treaty--as if the Indians ever
honored any treaties--and even promised to send them corn because they
hadn't had time to plant any.

The disgusted militiamen called it the Corn Treaty. Old Gaines must be
almost as big a coward as Black Hawk.

Raoul and the Smith County boys hung around the Rock River, sniping at
Indians in canoes till their provisions ran out; they flagged the
_Victory_ down on her next northbound trip and rode her home.

Home, where what was going on made Raoul madder than ever. Pierre was
dying and the mongrel--from the same tribe Raoul had been fighting down
on the Rock River--was strutting around as if he already owned Victoire.

That would end today. If Raoul could pull it off.

Raoul eyed Nancy Hale, standing only a few feet from him among the two
hundred or so mourners in the great hall of Victoire. What would she
think, Raoul wondered, when he played his hand today? He pictured what
the tall blond woman would look like naked under him in bed.

Oh, he'd make her sweat and moan and thank him for it.

But first, of course, he had to succeed today. He had to drive the
mongrel away before he could court Nancy. Whether her preacher father
approved of him or not, he couldn't turn away one of the biggest
landowners in Illinois.

And that's what he'd be, after today.

He didn't see how he could fail. Surely the servants and the townspeople
wouldn't take the mongrel's part.

Still warming himself by staring at Nancy Hale's straight back, Raoul
thanked God he'd never been quite able to bring himself to marry
Clarissa.

He felt a twinge of unease as he recalled that taking up with Nancy
would mean kicking Clarissa out of his bed, and _that_ might mean
trouble with Eli. To his relief, Eli had accepted Raoul's not marrying
Clarissa, even after she bore him two