t I retired to Canada."

He paused. The explanation was not enough to satisfy me, and I expected
him to justify the arming of Johnson Hall and his discovered intrigues
with the Mohawks which set the rebels on the march to seize his person.
He gave none, resuming quietly:

"I have hazarded a vast estate, vaster than yours, Sir Lupus, greater
than the estates of all these gentlemen combined. I do it because I owe
obedience to the King who has honored me, and for no other reason on
earth. Yet I do it in fullest confidence and belief that my lands will
be restored to me when this rebellion is stamped on and trodden out to
the last miserable spark."

He hesitated, wiped his thin mouth with his laced handkerchief, and
turned directly towards the patroon.

"You ask me to remain neutral. You promise me that, even at this late
hour, my surrender and oath of neutrality will restore me my estates and
guarantee me a peaceful, industrious life betwixt two tempests. It may
be so, Sir Lupus. I think it would be so. But, my friend, to fail my
King when he has need of me is a villainy I am incapable of. The
fortunes of his Majesty are my fortunes; I stand or fall with him. This
is my duty as I see it. And, gentlemen, I shall follow it while life
endures."

He resumed his seat amid absolute silence. Presently the patroon raised
his eyes and looked at Colonel John Butler.

"May we hear from you, sir?" he asked, gravely.

"I trust that all may, one day, hear from Butler's Rangers," he said.

"And I swear they shall," broke in Walter Butler, his dark eyes burning
like golden coals.

"I think the Royal Greens may make some little noise in the world," said
Captain Campbell, with an oath.

Guy Johnson waved his thin, brown hand towards the patroon: "I hold my
King's commission as intendant of Indian affairs for North America. That
is enough for me. Though they rob me of Guy Park and every acre, I shall
redeem my lands in a manner no man can ever forget!"

"Gentlemen," added Colonel Claus, in his bluff way, "you all make great
merit of risking property and life in this wretched teapot tempest; you
all take credit for unchaining the Mohawks. But you give them no credit.
What have the Iroquois to gain by aiding us? Why do they dig up the
hatchet, hazarding the only thing they have--their lives? Because they
are led by a man who told the rebel Congress that the covenant chain
which the King gave to the Mohawks is still unspotted by di