n we were in the same peril from Indians as he
had been himself the year before."

"From Indians? O brother!" and Corinne shuddered, for she had that
horror of the red-skinned race which comes to those who have seen
and heard of their cruelties and treachery from those who have
dwelt amongst them.

"Yes, you must know, Corinne, that in the west, where our uncle
goes with the word of life and truth, the Indians are already
wavering, and are disposed to return to their past friendship with
the English. They are wonderfully cunning and far-seeing. They seem
to have that same instinct as men say that rats possess, and are
eager to leave the sinking ship, or to join themselves to the
winning side, whichever way you like to put it. Since we have seen
misfortune they have begun to change towards us. We cannot trust
them out in the west. They are becoming sullen, if not hostile. A
very little and they will turn upon us with savage fury--at least
if they are not withheld from it by the English themselves."

Corinne's cheek flushed; she flung back her head with an
indescribable gesture.

"And I believe the English will withhold them. To our shame be it
spoken, the French have made use of them. They have stooped to a
warfare which makes civilized man shudder with horror. England will
not use such methods; I am sure of it, And she will prosper where
we have failed; for God in the heavens rules the nations upon
earth, and He will not suffer such wickedness to continue forever.
If France in the west falls, she falls rather by her own act than
by that of her foes."

"That is what my uncle says," answered Colin earnestly; "it is what
he has striven all along to impress upon our leaders, but without
avail. He has been seeking, too, to show to the Indians themselves
the evil of their wicked practices. He has never been afraid of
them; he has always been their friend. But the day came when they
would no longer listen to him; when they drove us forth with hatred
and malice; when there came into their faces that which made me
more afraid than anything I have ever faced in my life before,
Corinne. We dared not stay. The chief dismissed us and bid us be
gone quickly, whilst he could still hold his people in check. He
did not wish harm to come to us; but savage blood is hard to check.

"We got away from the village, and hoped the danger was over. We
made our way as well as we could towards Montreal. But our uncle
was weak; he had had