ble to care for
herself, and of a most independent spirit. She disappeared very
suddenly from the Fort several days ago; we supposed she must have gone
with my mother when Mr. Kinzie took his family back to their home."

"With Mr. Kinzie?" I questioned, for at that moment I could not recall
hearing the name. "May I ask where that home is?"

"He is the very good step-father of my wife, and one she loves as truly
as if he were her own father," answered Helm, warmly; "a man among a
thousand. Mr. Kinzie is an Indian trader, and has been here for
several years, if indeed he be not the first white settler, for old
Pointe Au Sable was a West Indian mulatto. His relations with these
savages who dwell near the Great Lake, and especially those of the
Pottawattomie and Wyandot tribes, are so friendly that he has felt safe
to remain with his family unguarded in his own home. They have always
called him Shaw-nee-aw-kee, the Silver-man, and trust him as much as he
trusts them. He is, besides, a great friend of Sau-ga-nash, the
half-breed Wyandot; and that friendship is a great protection. His
house is across the river, a little to the east of the Fort; it can
easily be seen from the summit of the stockade. But we have had no
direct communication for several days; the orders have been very strict
since the gates were closed. It is not safe for our soldiers to
venture outside except in force, and neither Kinzie nor any of his
family have lately visited us. Doubtless they feel that to do so might
arouse the suspicion of their Indian friends."

"But are you sure they are there, and safe? And do you believe the one
I seek will be found with them?"

"Smoke rises from the chimney, as usual, and there was a light burning
there last evening. We do not know certainly that your friend is
there, but think such is the case, as she was extremely friendly with a
young French girl in their employ named Josette La Framboise."

I sat in silence for some time, thinking, and neglectful of the
conversation being carried on around me by the others, until we were
called to supper by the soldier who officiated as steward for the
officers' mess. I remember many details of the situation, as they were
frankly discussed in my presence while we lingered at the table; yet my
own reflections were elsewhere, as I was endeavoring to determine my
duty regarding the safety of her whom I had come so far to aid.
Surely, my first object now must be to a