lent tongue."

"Yes, indeed!" cried impulsive Edith. "Even during our short
acquaintance I have discovered that, in many things which I ought to
know, her knowledge is superior to mine; that for keeping a secret she
has no equal; and that with it all she is one of the dearest and
sweetest and most lovable girls I ever met."

Then, seeing that her friend was covered with confusion by all this
praise, she hastened to change the subject by saying, "And now, if
Donald were only here, what a happy party we would form, and how
readily might we forget our captivity!"

"Not captivity!" interrupted Ah-mo, eagerly. "Pontiac's guests can
never be his captives."

"While your father's opinions and mine are not agreed on that point, my
dear girl, he certainly has done everything suggested by a courteous
hospitality to make my stay here comfortable," said Major Hester.
"But, as any form of detention against one's will must be regarded as a
captivity, I cannot echo your wish, Edith, that Donald were here. He
is so young, so fearless, and so impatient of inaction, that, were he
taken prisoner, he would do and dare anything to effect an escape, with
possible results that I cannot bear to contemplate. Therefore I am
glad that he is far away, and is happily free from a knowledge of our
position."

"Why, father, is he not in Detroit?" queried Edith.

"No; he left before the outbreak, with despatches for New York, and,
had you not come by the north shore of the lake, he would surely have
met you."

"Well," sighed Edith, "I wish we might have met. Had I known of his
coming, I should certainly have waited for him in New York; though, as
things have turned out, I wouldn't have missed this coming to you,
father dear, for the world. Now I only hope he won't try to return
before peace is declared. Oh, Ah-mo! why will your father persist in
this horrid war? He surely cannot hope to succeed against the forces
of the king."

"His warriors have not yet been defeated," replied the Indian girl
quickly, with a bright flush heightening the dark beauty of her face.
"And he is too brave a man not to make war against those who would
steal the lands of his people, and kill them like so many wild beasts.
Why do the English drive my father to war?"

"Do not become involved in fruitless discussion, my dears," chided the
old soldier. "This question is one to be settled by older and wiser
heads than yours."

So the conversation was changed,