travel an' hunt wit' mes amis, ze
Indians, but I do not love ze Anglais. When I was a boy, I fight wit' ze
great Montcalm at Quebec against Wolfe an' les Anglais. We lose an' ze
Bourbon lilies are gone; ze rouge flag of les Anglais take its place.
Why should I fight for him who conquers me? I love better ze woods an'
ze riviere an' ze lakes where I hunt and fish."

"I am glad that you are no enemy of ours, Mr. Lajeunais," said Henry,
"and I am certain that my people are no enemies of the French in Canada.
Perhaps we shall meet in Detroit."

"Eet ees likely, mon brav," said Lajeunais, "I come into the town in
four days an' I inquire for ze great boy named Ware."

Timmendiquas gave the signal and in another hour they were in Detroit.

CHAPTER IX

AT DETROIT

Henry missed nothing as he went on with the warriors. He saw many lodges
of Indians, and some cabins occupied by French-Canadians. In places the
forest had been cleared away to make fields for Indian corn, wheat and
pumpkins. Many columns of smoke rose in the clear spring air, and
directly ahead, where he saw a cluster of such columns, Henry knew the
fort to be. Timmendiquas kept straight on, and the walls of the fort
came into view.

Detroit was the most formidable fortress that Henry had yet seen. Its
walls, recently enlarged, were of oak pickets, rising twenty-five feet
above the ground and six inches in diameter at the smaller end. It had
bastions at every corner, and four gates, over three of which were built
strong blockhouses for observation and defense. The gates faced the four
cardinal points of the compass, and it was the one looking towards the
south that was without a blockhouse. There was a picket beside every
gate. The gates were opened at sunrise and closed at sunset, but the
wickets were left open until 9 o'clock at night.

This fortification, so formidable in the wilderness, was armed in a
manner fitting its strength. Every blockhouse contained four
six-pounders and two batteries of six large guns each, faced the river,
which was only forty feet away and with very steep banks. Inside the
great palisade were barracks for five hundred men, a brick store, a
guard house, a hospital, a governor's house, and many other buildings.
At the time of Henry's arrival about four hundred British troops were
present, and many hundreds of Indian warriors. The fort was thoroughly
stocked with ammunition and other supplies, and there were also many
Eng