The camp quieted rapidly, and I soon had only silence between me and
the stars. My mind was active but curiously placid. Inch by inch I
went over the ground of the last twenty-four hours. I stated the case
to myself as a foreigner translates a lesson. It is sometimes a help
to put a situation in the concrete, to phrase it as to a stranger. In
that way you stand aloof and see new light. So I put the matter in
category, sharing it with the stars, and with the back of the snoring
Indian.
We were in Pemaou's hands. He had known that the Iroquois were coming;
had probably known it months before, and had instigated this campaign.
He wished an alliance with the English, and, though he could work to
that end through the Iroquois, he would find an English prisoner a
material aid. I could see how useful I had been to him in keeping the
Englishwoman away from Michillimackinac,--where he would have had ado
to hold his title of possession to her,--and I could not but respect
the skill with which he had timed his blow, and brought her to the
Iroquois camp at the right moment. Yes, I had served him well, from
the time when I had assisted him to hear Longuant's speech in the
Ottawa camp to the present hour.
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