g knife!"

"Why did the Saganaw come into the country of the red skins?" haughtily
demanded the chief. "Why did they take our hunting grounds from us? Why
have they strong places encircling the country of the Indians, like a
belt of wampum round the waist of a warrior?"

"This is not true," rejoined the governor. "It was not the Saganaw, but
the warriors of the pale flag, who first came and took away the hunting
grounds, and built the strong places. The great father of the Saganaw
had beaten the great father of the pale flag quite out of the Canadas,
and he sent his young men to take their place and to make peace with
the red skins, and to trade with them, and to call them brothers."

"The Saganaw was false," retorted the Indian. "When a chief of the
Saganaw came for the first time with his warriors into the country of
the Ottawas, the chief of the Ottawas stood in his path, and asked him
why, and from whom, he came? That chief was a bold warrior, and his
heart was open, and the Ottawa liked him; and when he said he came to
be friendly with the red skins, the Ottawa believed him, and he shook
him by the hand, and said to his young men, 'Touch not the life of a
Saganaw; for their chief is the friend of the Ottawa chief, and his
young men shall be the friends of the red warriors.' Look," he
proceeded, marking his sense of the discovery by another of those
ejaculatory "Ughs!" so expressive of surprise in an Indian, "at the
right hand of my father I see a chief," pointing to Captain Erskine,
"who came with those of the Saganaw who first entered the country of
the Detroit;--ask that chief if what the Ottawa says is not true. When
the Saganaw said he came only to remove the warriors of the pale flag,
that he might be friendly and trade with the red skins, the Ottawa
received the belt of wampum he offered, and smoked the pipe of peace
with him, and he made his men bring bags of parched corn to his
warriors who wanted food, and he sent to all the nations on the lakes,
and said to them, 'The Saganaw must pass unhurt to the strong hold on
the Detroit.' But for the Ottawa, not a Saganaw would have escaped; for
the nations were thirsting for their blood, and the knives of the
warriors were eager to open their scalps. Ask the chief who sits at the
right hand of my father," he again energetically repeated, "if what the
Ottawa says is not true."

"What the Ottawa says is true," rejoined the governor; "for the chief
who sits on my