What do
the Ottawas care what Monsieur de la Mothe-Cadillac, the commandant,
does with the English prisoner?"
She thought a moment, and plaited the folds of her beaver-skin skirt as
I have seen many a white girl do. "I know of no dog," she said, with a
slow upward glance that tried to gauge my temper. "And as for the
moon, it shines alike on the grass and the tall trees, and I have seen
no Frenchman yet who could reach up and pluck it from its place. But I
have seen a chain that was once bright like silver grow dull and eaten
with rust. A wise man will throw such a chain away, and ask for a new
one."
I shrugged. "You have sharp eyes," I said, shrugging yet more, "if you
can see rust on the covenant chain that binds the French to the
Ottawas. Is that what you mean?"
She looked up with a flash of fun and diablerie such as I never thought
to see in a savage face. "Then monsieur has seen it himself?"
Now this would not do; I would leave all gallantries to my subordinate.
"This is idle talk," I said, as I lit my pipe, and prepared as if to
go. "It is the clatter of water among stones that makes a great noise,
but goes nowhere. I have seen many strange things in my life, but
never a cat that could fight fair, nor a woman that could answer a
direct question.
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