heads. Le Borgne broke through the
circle and confronted us with his face agleam.

"Le Borgne, you rascal, is this a way to treat your friends?" I
demanded.

"What you--come for?" slowly snarled Le Borgne through set teeth.

"To bring back your wounded and for furs, you fool," cried Godefroy,
"and if you don't call your braves off, you can sell no more pelts to
the French."

Le Borgne gabbled out something that drove the braves back.

"We have no furs yet," said he.

"But you will have them when you raid the Little White Sticks," raged
Godefroy, caring nothing for the harm his words might work if he saved
his own scalp.

Le Borgne drew off to confer with the braves. Then he came back and
there was a treacherous smile of welcome on his bronze face.

"The Indians thought the white-men spies from the Little White Sticks,"
he explained in the mellow, rhythmic tones of the redman. "The Indians
were in war council. The Indians are friends of the French."

"Look out for him, Godefroy," said I.

"If the French are friends to the Indians, let the white-men come to
battle against the Little White Sticks," added Le Borgne.

"Tell him no! We'll wait here till they come back!"

"He says they are not coming back," answered Godefroy, "and hang me,
Ramsay, an I'd not face an Indian massacre before I go back
empty-handed to M. Radisson. We're in for it," says he, speaking
English too quick for Le Borgne's ear. "If we show the white feather
now, they'll finish us. They'll not harm us till they've done for the
English and got more muskets. And that red pirate is after these same
furs! Body o' me, an you hang back, scared o' battle, you'd best not
come to the wilderness."

"The white-men will go with the Indians, but the white-men will not
fight with the Little Sticks," announced Godefroy to Le Borgne,
proffering tobacco enough to pacify the tribe.

'Twas in vain that I expostulated against the risk of going far inland
with hostiles, who had attacked the New England fort and were even now
planning the slaughter of white-men. Inoffensiveness is the most
deadly of offences with savagery, whether the savagery be of white men
or red. Le Borgne had the insolence to ask why the tribe could not as
easily kill us where we were as farther inland; and we saw that
remonstrances were working the evil that we wished to avoid--increasing
the Indians' daring. After all, Godefroy was right. The man who fears
death should ne