Raoul and then said, "Have I the right to hear what
has been said against me?"

Scott shook his head. "This is only a hearing, not a court-martial. What
do you have to say for yourself?"

"I advised my people to keep the peace," Auguste said. "And the British
Band did not take my advice. So I am not much of a ringleader. And I
never killed anyone, so I am no murderer. As for being a renegade, I was
born a Sauk. I'm no more a renegade than any other member of my tribe
who followed Black Hawk."

Auguste's voice rang loud and clear. Raoul noticed that his speech
seemed more accented than he remembered it. Probably from living with
Indians and talking only their talk for nearly a year.

_Is it only a year since I drove him from Victoire? Seems a whole
lifetime away._

Scott cast sideways glances at Taylor and Atkinson.

"We are told you are an American citizen," said Zachary Taylor.

Auguste said, "Sir, my father was Pierre de Marion, an American citizen,
and because it was his wish, I lived as a white man for six years. But
my mother was Sun Woman of the Sauk tribe, and I remained a Sauk in my
heart."

Scott said, "Your heart doesn't matter to the law. What was your conduct
during the war?"

Raoul listened, blood hammering in his skull, to Auguste's account of
Old Man's Creek. Auguste named him, turned and pointed to him.

"Then he came toward me to shoot me. I ran into the tall grass. Eli
Greenglove, one of his men, shot me." He touched his mangled ear. "It
was dark and the men were drunk, and I was able to stay alive by
pretending to be dead. When Black Hawk found out that his emissaries had
been shot, he believed he had no choice but to go on fighting. It was
only then that the British Band began to attack whites."

Anger drove Raoul to his feet. "Sir, I must answer that."

Scott turned hard blue eyes on Raoul. "That won't be necessary, Colonel.
I've already had a complete report of what happened at Old Man's Creek."
Raoul heard a faint disdain in Scott's elegant Virginia drawl and felt
his face turn hot.

Scott consulted in a murmur with Taylor and Atkinson. Raoul sat down
slowly and drummed his fingers on his knee. He looked up to see Auguste
staring stonily at him, his manacled hands clenched into fists. Raoul
made himself hold Auguste's gaze.

_Shaman. I wonder if he does have any power to hurt me._

_Nonsense._

_But what is he thinking, what is he planning?_

Scott said, "We've read depositi