ds for the chief, an'
gives him a grand present, an' says he wants to marry his darter. An'
so he _did_ marry his darter, right off, an' the whites an' redskins was
friends ever after that. The man what did that was a gentleman too--so
they said; tho' for my part I don't know wot a gentleman is--no more do
I b'lieve there ain't sich a thing; but if there be, an' it means
anything good, I calc'late that that man _wos_ a gentleman, for w'en he
grew old he took his old squaw to Canada with him, 'spite the larfin' o'
his comrades, who said he'd have to sot up a wigwam for her in his
garden. But he says, `No,' says he, `I married the old ooman for better
an' for worse, an' I'll stick by her to the last. There's too many o'
you chaps as leaves yer wives behind ye when ye go home--I'm detarmined
to sot ye a better example.' An' so he did. He tuk her home an' put
her in a grand house in some town in Canada--I don't well mind which--
but when he wasn't watchin' of her, the old ooman would squat down on
the carpet in the drawin'-room, for, d'ye see, she hadn't bin used to
chairs. His frinds used to advise him to put her away, an' the kindlier
sort said he should give her a room to herself, and not bring her into
company where she warn't at ease; but no, the old man said always,
`She's my lawful wedded wife, an' if she was a buffalo cow I'd stick by
her to the last'--an' so he did."

"Vraiment he was von cur'ous creetur," observed Gibault.

"See, they have descried us!" exclaimed Bertram, pointing to the fort,
which they were now approaching, and where a bustle among the
inhabitants showed that their visitors were not always peacefully
disposed, and that it behoved them to regard strangers with suspicion.

"Would it not be well to send one of our party on in advance with a
white flag?" observed Bertram.

"No need for that," replied Redhand, "they're used to all kinds o'
visitors--friends as well as foes. I fear, however, from the haste they
show in closing their gate, that they ain't on good terms with the
Injuns."

"The red-men and the pale-faces are at war," said Hawkswing.

"Ay, you're used to the signs, no doubt," returned Redhand, "for you've
lived here once upon a time, I b'lieve."

The Indian made no reply, but a dark frown overspread his countenance
for a few minutes. When it passed, his features settled down into their
usual state of quiet gravity.

"Have ye ever seed that fort before?" inquired Bounce i