"God be with you, Chippewa-God be with you. We shall have a stirring
summer of it, and I expect to hear of your name in the wars, as of a
chief who knows no fear."

Pigeonswing waved his hand, cast a glance, half friendly half
contemptuously, at Whiskey Centre, and glided away. The two who
remained standing near the smouldering fire remarked that the
direction taken by the Chippewa was toward the lake, and nearly at
right angles to that taken by the Pottawattamie. They also fancied
that the movement of the former was about half as fast again as that
of the latter. In less than three minutes the young Indian was
concealed in the "openings," though he had to cross a glade of
considerable width in order to reach them.

The bee-hunter was now alone with the only one of his guests who was
of the color and race to which he himself belonged. Of the three, he
was the visitor he least respected; but the dues of hospitality are
usually sacred in a wilderness, and among savages, so that he could
do nothing to get rid of him. As Gershom manifested no intention to
quit the place, le Bourdon set about the business of the hour, with
as much method and coolness as if the other had not been present.
The first thing was to bring home the honey discovered on the
previous day; a task of no light labor, the distance it was to be
transported being so considerable, and the quantity so large. But
our bee-hunter was not without the means of accomplishing such an
object, and he now busied himself in getting ready. As Gershom
volunteered his assistance, together they toiled in apparent amity
and confidence.

The Kalamazoo is a crooked stream; and it wound from the spot where