on me; sing me a song, LaRole.

LAROLE. A chanson? Vell, sair, I shall sing to frighten avay de littel
blue devil; vill you I shall sing de English or de Francaise?

PENDRAGON. Oh, English, by all means--curse your foreign lingo.

LAROLE. Ahem! Ahem! you shall understand.

_Vat is dis dull town to me,
Robin Hadair?
Vere is all de joys on earth, dat
Make dis town_--

[_A bugle sounds without._

Ha! what is dat? who de devil intrup me in my chanson?

INDIAN CHIEF. [_Speaks without._] Have them all ready, with their rifles
and tomahawks in order; [_Enters with another INDIAN._] and you,
Coosewatchie, tell our priests to take their stand on yonder hill, and
as my warriors pass them, examine whether they have fire in their eyes.
[_Exit INDIAN._] How now, who have we here?

PENDRAGON. [_Examining him with his glass._] Where the devil did this
character come from? he's one of the fancy, I suppose.

INDIAN. Who and what are you?

PENDRAGON. Who am I? Why, sir, I am the honourable captain Pendragon, of
his majesty's guards, formerly of the buffs.

INDIAN. [_Aside._] The officer who is to be under my command. Well sir,
you have lately arrived from across the great waters: How did you leave
my father, the King of England?

PENDRAGON. How! call my most gracious sovereign your father? Why, sir,
you are the most familiar--impertinent--'sdeath! I shall choke--What the
devil do you mean?

INDIAN. [_Coolly._] What should I mean, young man, but to inquire after
the health of my father, who commands my respect, who has honoured me
with his favours, and in whose cause I am now fighting.

PENDRAGON. Well, sir, if you have the honour to hold a commission from
his majesty, I desire that you will speak of him with proper awe, and
not call him your father, but your gracious master.

INDIAN. Young man, the Indian warrior knows no master but the Great
Spirit, whose voice is heard in thunder, and whose eye is seen in the
lightning's flash; free as air, we bow the knee to no man; our forests
are our home, our defence is our arms, our sustenance the deer and the
elk, which we run down. White men encroach upon our borders, and drive
us into war; we raise the tomahawk against your enemies, because your
king has promised us protection and supplies. We fight for freedom, and
in that cause, the great king and the poor Indian start upon equal
terms.

PENDRAGON. A very clev