tree,
several acres of gloomy forest were replaced by smiling fields. A
young orchard was in sturdy growth, a small herd of cattle found ample
pasturage on the borders of the lake, and on all sides were evidences
of thrift and plenty.

The military instinct of the proprietor caused all forest growth to be
cleared from a broad space entirely around the rude fortress that held
his life's treasures; but within the enclosure he left standing two
superb oaks. These not only afforded a grateful shade, but gave a
distinctive feature to the place that was quickly recognized by the
surrounding Indians. Thus they always spoke of it as the house of the
two trees, or two-tree house, a name that soon became "Tawtry House,"
under which designation it was known from the unsalted seas to the tide
waters of the distant Shattemuc.

Tawtry House not only offered a ready welcome and bountiful hospitality
to the occasional hunter, trader, or traveller tempted by business or
curiosity into that wild region, but to the Indians who still roamed
the forest at will and had established one of their villages at no
great distance from it. With these, by the exercise of extreme
firmness and an inflexible honesty, Major Hester succeeded in
maintaining friendly relations, in spite of their jealousy of his
presence among them. At the same time, his wife, through her
gentleness and ready sympathy in their times of sickness or distress,
gained their deep-seated affection.

Although the Iroquois were thus at peace with their English neighbors,
there was a bitter enmity between them and the French settlers of
Canada, who had espoused the cause of their hereditary foes, the tribes
dwelling along the St. Lawrence and on both shores of the great
fresh-water lakes. Most prominent of these were the Ottawas, Hurons or
Wyandots, Ojibwas and Pottawattamies, who were allied in a defensive
league against their powerful enemies. Their ancient hatred of the
Iroquois, animated by the traditions of generations, was ever fanned
into a blaze by Jesuit priests eager for the triumph of their faith,
French traders anxious to monopolize the immensely profitable fur
business of the new world, and French soldiers determined at any cost
to extend the empire of their king. Thus, on one pretext or another,
war parties were constantly coming and going, destroying or being
destroyed, and it well behooved the adventurous frontier settler to
intrench himself strongly behi