ters yesterday
when I was talking with him. There is what is called a flurry among the
Indians, and as long as it lasts we must keep under the wing of some
block-house or in some settlement."

"But how long is it to last?"

"There is only One who can answer that question. It may be in a few
weeks, or months, or possibly a year or two. You know that such
expeditions as Crawford's and St. Clair's make matters worse than
before."

"Why?"

"Colonel Crawford, as you remember, was not only defeated, but he was
made prisoner and burned to death at the stake. Then President
Washington sent General St. Clair, and the combined tribes smote him hip
and thigh. All this makes the Indians bolder and more open in their
hostility, until I have no doubt that hundreds of them believe they are
strong enough to drive every white man out of Ohio and Kentucky."

"Why doesn't General Washington send some one who knows how to fight the
Indians, and with men enough to whip them?"

"St. Clair had enough men to whip the enemy, but the general didn't know
how to handle them when he got into the Indian country. You have learned
of the dreadful mistake that Braddock and his regulars made more than
thirty years ago, during the French and Indian war, when all of the
British soldiers would have been killed if it had not been for
Washington and his Virginians."

"I should think General Washington himself would take command of a
force. I know he would end all this trouble," added Agnes, with a glow
of pride in the illustrious Father of his Country.

"I have no doubt he would if he wasn't President; but he has to stay in
Philadelphia and make the other officers do their duty. But if he can't
come himself, he knows enough now to send the right men. The next battle
will see the Indians so badly whipped that they will stay so for many,
many years to come."

"And then?"

"Hundreds and thousands of people will come from the East and settle in
the West. The land will be cleared off and planted; cities and towns
will spring up, and that clearing of ours, with the other acres we shall
add, will make you and I wealthy, Agnes."

"It may make you wealthy, George; but how can it help me?"

He gave the dainty hand a warmer pressure than before and lowered his
voice, so that only the shell-like ear, so close to his own, could catch
his words.

"If it benefits me it must benefit you; for, God willing, long before
that time we shall be one. Am I wrong i