the Indian. "If the arm of an Ottawa is strong," he said,
"his foot is not less swift. The short guns of the chiefs
of the Saganaw" (pointing to the pistols of the officers)
"could not reach us; and before the voice of our father
could be raised, or his eye turned, to call his warriors
to his side, the Ottawa would be already far on his way
to the forest."

"The great chief of the Ottawas shall judge better of
the Saganaw," returned the governor.--"He shall see
that his young men are ever watchful at their posts:--Up,
men, and show yourselves."

A second or two sufficed to bring the whole, of Captain
Erskine's company, who had been lying flat on their faces,
to their feet on the rampart. The Indians were evidently
taken by surprise, though they evinced no fear. The low
and guttural "Ugh!" was the only expression they gave to
their astonishment, not unmingled with admiration.

But, although the chiefs preserved their presence of
mind, the sudden appearance of the soldiers had excited
alarm among their warriors, who, grouped in and around
the bomb-proof, were watching every movement of the
conferring parties, with an interest proportioned to the
risk they conceived their head men had incurred in
venturing under the very walls of their enemies. Fierce
yells were uttered; and more than a hundred dusky warriors,
brandishing their tomahawks in air, leaped along the
skirt of the common, evidently only awaiting the signal