up a rifle yourself, but you want some of my men
to stay and guard you."

Frank looked back steadily. "I'm learning to shoot. Your father is
teaching me." Nicole felt a rush of love for Frank, and pride in his
willingness to learn to do something he hated, because he had to.

Raoul spread his hands. "Good for you, and good for Papa." He looked
down, and his face reddened slightly. When he looked up, his dark eyes
met Nicole's.

"How is Papa?"

Nicole checked the urge to remind him that he had nearly killed their
father, and said, "He's tolerably well. The little house Frank has been
building for him is finished. And he's able to walk. Guichard takes care
of him."

Raoul clapped his hands together. "Good, good! Then that's two riflemen
you've got right there. And I'll bet old Guichard could even shoot if it
came to that. And you'll have David Cooper, he's a veteran of 'Twelve.
He's going to keep an eye on the trading post for me, along with Burke
Russell. I'm sure there'll be a few others. As for the rest of the men,
if I didn't lead them down to the Rock River, they'd go anyway. They're
raring to hunt redskins."

Nicole recalled the line of men she had seen just now in the trading
post courtyard signing up for the Smith County volunteer militia. There
must have been over a hundred of them, some wearing coonskin caps and
fringed buckskins, others with straw hats, calico shirts and tow-linen
pantaloons, two dozen or so sporting the head kerchiefs favored by men
of French descent. They'd been in high spirits, laughing and talking
about bringing back scalps.

Frank said, "Of course you don't _want_ to think there'll be an Indian
attack on Victor while you're gone. What you want is to go down to the
Rock River country with the militia and win a great victory over the
Indians. Or something you can call a great victory."

Raoul held out his hands. "Frank, you printed Reynolds's proclamation in
your damned paper."

He pointed over his shoulder, where a copy of the Illinois governor's
call to arms, cut from the _Victor Visitor_ for April 17, 1832, was
nailed to the wall. Nicole's eyes traveled over the opening lines.

FELLOW CITIZENS

Your country requires your services. The Indians have assumed a
hostile attitude and have invaded the State in violation of the
treaty of last summer.

The British Band of Sauks and other hostile Indians, headed by Black
Hawk, are in