The citizen., 1914-05-01

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Girty said religious teacher, whom
the tribe loved more than a chief"
crossed the narrow room twice, en-,
deavoring to sum up the evidence
clearly.
A poor pretense for war, surely" ]
said at last, "but might be sufficient
to Indian mind"
More than one war, even among
civilized nations, has been started Oh
less" he answered soberly. Besides
1t Is my judgment all those devils want
is an excuse. They may have manu-
factured this out of whole cloth; tc
me 1t don't look reasonable. But you
nave all the facts now, Hayward, and
can understand what to say and do
Those red devils know our weakness
and are wild to break loose. II ]
send back formal letter by the hands
OF their messenger, denying any knowl
edge of this medicine man of theirs
and expressing regret at his disap
pearance, they will consider it lie.
l know Indian nature; they have got
to be bluffed at their own game. Show
rear, and they are after you at once.
the whole pack in full cry; face them
boldly, and they hesitate. If you GO
straight to them, through the woods
to their council fire, an officer of this
garrison, In uniform, they will inter
pret your coming as a sign that we
are not afraid of their threats"
Then am to talk boldly; threaten
II necessary"
With discretion-yes. 1t Is our only
chance to avert war. The scheme may
not work, but If it even results in de
lay, 1t will be worth the effort"
When do l start?"
"At dusk tonight. Come here first
for final instructions, and letter tc
Hamilton. You will go up the Mus
kingum to the forks by boat, and ther
straight through the woods. There
must be no lettering on the march"
There will be none, sir; and what
about Girty?"
Il will hold him on some pretext un
til morning. Your party will have ff
teen hours start"
There seemed nothing more, and
after waiting a moment in silence.
saluted.
Very we'll, sir; that Is all?"
"All at present"
turned toward the door, then hesi
tated. as memory suddenly returned
Pardon me, general" 1 said impul
sively, but l met a young woman II
the room yonder. Might inquire who
she may be?"
He stared at me with open mouth
then laughed.
"The witch! never knew she was
in there, Hayward, or l should never
have exposed you to such danger
Said she anything about herself?"
only her name-Rene D'Auvray."
Huh! that does not sound much
like the one she gave me, though BY
my soul, I've forgotten 1t; twas jus
as Frenchified, and l never dared tc
speak 1t aloud. How came she to tel
your"
That's the odd part of it, sir. She
knew me, called me Monsieur Hay
ward and insisted l would remember
her when she named herself. Then
she did, but it was no name l ever
heard before, nor have ever seen the
face; I'd swear to that"
"And she is not the sort to be for
gotten easily. If they raise such flow
ers in the Illinois country, l would
like service there. The tale is, al
repeated by the soldiers who talked
with the boatmen, that she seeks heJ
father, who left this Kaskaskia a veal
since with Vigo. on a journey up the
Ohio. She stops at each settlement
to inquire, and the girl has money
French and English gold in plenty
Yet, II this be the truth, there Is small
hunting done. Once only was she al
the village for an hour; nor has she
spoken yet Of departure. She puzzles
me with her pert speech, and French
talk, for she pretends little under
standing Of English. But that my wife
likes her should have sent the hussy
on her way before now"
But, general" l asked, still linger
ing, how came she to know my
name?"
Perhaps you spoke it first in hei
hearing"
mot I, sir; we spoke of other mat
ters."
CTo BE CONTINUEDJ