aw, as I have done our brothers the
English: for I will keep you at arms' length. I lay this
down as a trial for both, to see which will have the
greatest regard for it, and that side we will stand by, and
make equal sharers with us. Our brothers, the English, have
heard this, and I now come to tell it to you; for I am not
afraid to discharge you off this land."

The poor Half-King was to find that he had undertaken a task
like that of discharging the wolves out of the sheep-cote.
The French heard his protest with contempt, and went on
building their forts. He thereupon turned to the English,
whom he, in the simplicity of his heart, imagined had no
purpose save that of peaceful trade. His "fathers" had
contemned him; to his "brothers" he turned in amity.

Washington told his purposes to his dusky auditors. He had
come to warn the French intruders off the Indian lands. He
desired a guide to conduct him to the French fort, one
hundred and twenty miles distant. His statement pleased the
Indians. Their English "brothers" were in sympathy with
them. They would help them to recover their lands. The
generosity of their white brothers must have seemed highly
meritorious to the simple savages. They had yet to learn
that the French and the English were the two millstones, and
they and their lands the corn to be ground between.

The Half-King, with two other chiefs (Jeskakake and White
Thunder by name), volunteered to guide the whites. A hunter
of noted skill also joined them. Once more the expedition
set out. The journey was a terrible one. Winter had set in;
rain and snow fell almost unceasingly; the forest was next
to impassable; great were their toils, severe their
hardships. On December 5 they reached the French outpost at
Venango (now Franklin), where French Creek joins the
Alleghany. Here they were met by Captain Joncaire, the
French commandant, with a promising show of civility.
Secretly, however, the astute Frenchman sought to rob
Washington of his Indians. Fortunately, the aborigines knew
the French too well to be cajoled, and were ready to
accompany Washington when he set out on his remaining
journey. Their route now led up French Creek to Fort Le
Boeuf, on the head-waters of that stream. This they reached
on the 12th, after a wearisome experience of frontier
travel. Forty-one days had passed since Washington left
Williamsburg.

The commandant here was M. de St. Pierre, an elderly man, of
courteous manners, a