a fort!"

Seeing that he bore no malice, my temper softened toward him a little, and
I set to helping the negro in his work. There was a great pile of logs in
the clearing close to the house, and on the sunny side near this the
little girl was placed, in a warm, dry spot; and here we two, with sticks
and balls of snow, soon reared a mock block-house. The English boy did no
work, but stood by and directed us with enthusiasm. When the structure was
to his mind, he said:

"Now we will make up some snowballs, and have an attack I will be the
Englishman and defend the fort; you must be the Frenchman and come to
drive me out. You can have Bob with you for a savage, if you like; only he
must throw no balls, but stop back in the woods and whoop. But first we
must have some hard balls made, so that I may hit you good when you come
up.--Bob, help this boy make some balls for me!"

Thus outlined, the game did not attract me. I did not so much mind doing
his work for him, since he was company, so to speak, but it did go against
my grain to have to manufacture the missiles for my own hurt.

"Why should I be the Frenchman?" I said, grumblingly. "I am no more a
Frenchman than you are yourself."

"You're a Dutchman, then, and it's quite the same," he replied. "All
foreigners are the same."

"It is you who are the foreigner," I retorted with heat. "How can I be a
foreigner in my own country, here where I was born?"