aid he, "that we have had about enough of St. Augustine.
There are too many Indians and girls here."

"And sea-beans, too, perhaps," said I. "But I don't think there's any
reason for going so soon. I'm going to settle those Indians, and you've
only seen one girl, and perhaps we'll never see her again."

"Don't you believe that," said Rectus, very solemnly, and he turned
over, either to ponder on the matter, or to go to sleep. His remarks
made me imagine that perhaps he was one of those fellows who soon get
tired of a place and want to be moving on. But that wasn't my way, and I
didn't intend to let him hurry me. I think the Indians worried him a
good deal. He was afraid they would keep on troubling us. But, as I had
said, I had made up my mind to settle the Indians. As for Corny, I know
he hated her. I don't believe he spoke a word to her all the time we
were with her.

The next morning, we talked over the Indian question, and then went down
to the fort. We hadn't been there for three or four days, but now we had
decided not to stand nagging by a couple of red-skinned savages, but to
go and see the captain and tell him all about it. All except the
proclamation--Rectus wouldn't agree to have that brought in at all. Mr.
Cholott had introduced us to the captain, and he was a first-rate
fellow, and when we told him how we had stormed his old fort, he laughed
and said he wondered we didn't break our necks, and that the next time
we did it he'd put us in the guard-house, sure.

"That would be cheaper for you than buying so many beans," he said.

As to the two Indians, he told us he would see to it that they let us
alone. He didn't think that Maiden's Heart would ever harm us, for he
was more of a blower than anything else; but he said that Crowded Owl
was really one of the worst-tempered Indians in the fort, and he advised
us to have nothing more to do with him, in any way.

All of this was very good of the captain, and we were very glad we had
gone to see him.

"I tell you what it is," said Rectus, as we were coming away, "I don't
believe that any of these Indians are as innocent as they try to make
out. Did you ever see such a rascally set of faces?"

Somehow or other, I seldom felt sorry when Rectus changed his mind. I
thought, indeed, that he ought to change it as much as he could. And
yet, as I have said, he was a thoroughly good fellow. The trouble with
him was that he wasn't used to making up his mind about thi