nd the little fellow, clad in the softest of deerskin tastefully
ornamented and wearing a jaunty cap of the same material, was indeed a
handsome lad. Conrad had attached himself to the boy as does a dog to
his master. When Rodney arrived, and the little fellow preferred him
to his former companion, then Conrad, who in one year of the wild life
had become an Indian in looks, became one at heart.

CHAPTER X

HATING, BUT WAITING

Ahneota was an Indian of superior intelligence and varied experience.
As the summer advanced, and the corn and tobacco which the squaws had
planted in the meadow put forth glossy leaves and promise of the
harvest, the boy's visits to the old chief became more interesting as
well as more frequent. Rodney recognized in him his only safety and
instinctively knew that the Indian liked him.

The more he learned of the aged man's wisdom and his kindness toward
the people of the village, the greater his wonder at the ferocious
expression in the face of this savage when persuaded to recount his
exploits. There could be no mistaking that this otherwise kindly old
man bore the whites a bitter hatred, though more tolerant of the
French than of the English.

In his youth Ahneota had been taught by a Jesuit missionary, indeed
had been regarded as a convert. He had retained, however, many of the
superstitions of the savage; believed in all sorts of evil as well as
good spirits, thought animals had spirit existence after death, had
faith in dreams, and, though he had little to do with the arts of the
"medicine man," so great was his dislike of Caughnega, Rodney became
convinced the chief also believed in them, to some extent, at least.

"The French," he said, "treat the Indian like a man who is weak; the
English treat him like a dog they despise. Both cheat him, but the
Englishman kicks him after he has robbed him, or kills him and takes
his scalp." He declared that the traders robbed the children of the
forest, and that every frontiersman wanted the Indians killed so as to
get the land. He had known of Indians being shot in time of peace by
trappers, who murdered them for their furs and took their scalps and
kept them so as to get bounty on them whenever there should be war
with the red men.

"But you would kill an innocent white woman and torture her children,
in revenge for the wickedness of the traders."

"Palefaces do not punish palefaces, but honour them for the bad deeds
done to the Indi