Major Montgomerie warmly thanked the General for his kind
offer, of which he said he should be glad to avail himself,
as he did not like the idea of his niece proceeding
without him to Detroit, where she was an entire stranger.
This, he admitted, determined as she had appeared to be,
was one of the unpleasant subjects of his reflection
during dinner.

With a view of turning the conversation, and anxious
moreover, to obtain every information on the subject,
the General now inquired in what estimation Tecumseh was
generally held in the United States.

"Among the more intelligent classes of our citizens, in
the highest possible," was the reply; "but by those who
are not so capable of judging, and who only see, in the
indomitable courage and elevated talents of the patriot
hero, the stubborn inflexibility of the mere savage, he
is looked upon far less flatteringly. By all, however,
is he admitted to be formidable without parallel, in the
history of Indian warfare. His deeds are familiar to all,
and his name is much such a bugbear to American childhood,
as Marlborough's was in France, and Napoleon's is in
England. It is a source of much regret to our Government
never to have been enabled to conciliate this extraordinary
man."

"What more feasible," remarked the General, but with a
tone and manner that could not possibly give offence;