loser. The others
ran eagerly down to the water side away from their cannon. In signal
of friendship, they advanced unarmed. Radisson must have laughed to
see how well his ruse worked.

"Who are you?" he demanded in plain English, "and what do you want?"
The traders called back that they were Englishmen come for beaver.
Again the crafty Frenchman must have laughed; for he knew very well
that all English ships except those of the Hudson's Bay Company were
prohibited by law from coming here to trade.[8] Though the strange
ship displayed an English ensign, the flag did not show the magical
letters "H. B. C."

"Whose commission have you?" pursued Radisson.

"No commission--New Englanders," answered the others.

"Contrabands," thought Radisson to himself. Then he announced that he
had taken possession of all that country for France, had built a strong
fort, and expected more ships. In a word, he advised the New
Englanders to save themselves by instant flight; but his canoe had
glided nearer. To Radisson's surprise, he discovered that the leader
of the New England poachers was Ben Gillam of Boston, son of Captain
Gillam, the trusted servant of the Hudson's Bay Company, who had
opposed Radisson and Groseillers on Rupert's River. It looked as if
the contraband might be a venture of the father as well as the son.[9]
Radisson and young Gillam recognized each other with a show of
friendliness, Gillam inviting Radisson to inspect the ship with much
the same motive that the fabled spider invited the fly. Radisson took
tactful precaution for his own liberty by graciously asking that two of
the New England servants go down to the canoe with the three Frenchmen.
No sooner had Radisson gone on the New England ship than young Gillam
ordered cannon fired and English flags run up. Having made that brave
show of strength, the young man proposed that the French and the New
Englanders should divide the traffic between them for the winter.
Radisson diplomatically suggested that such an important proposal be
laid before his colleagues. In leaving, he advised Gillam to keep his
men from wandering beyond the island, lest they suffer wrong at the
hands of the French soldiers. Incidentally, that advice would also
keep the New Englanders from learning how desperately weak the French
really were. Neither leader was in the slightest deceived by the
other; each played for time to take the other unawares, and each knew
the game that wa