Will you furnish me a
canoe and a man to paddle?" I stooped and pulled rushes from my
pallet, plaited them, and bound them in a ring. "Take this ring; keep
it. It is firm, like my purpose, and unending, like my endeavor. I
shall replace it with a chain of bright silver when I come to you
again. I give it to you in pledge of my friendship."
The chief took the ring and handled it loosely. I thought he was about
to throw it away, but he did not. He put it in his blanket.
"It is well," he said, and left the lodge. I was held on probation.
I had a good night and woke with new sinews. I saw that the sun was
shining and the sky untroubled. A squaw brought me broth, and I drank
it hungrily and tried to see no evil augury in the fact that I was
served by a woman. I flattered her, and asked her to summon Pierre.
She brought him at once. He thrust himself into the entrance, and I
saw dismay written large upon him.
"There is a canoe waiting to take the master away," he cried. "I am
going, too."
Now I was prepared for this battle. "Pierre, you are to stay here.
You are to keep near the Seneca camp to help Labarthe and Leclerc. If
they escape, go, all of you, to our camp on Sturgeon Cove and guard the
stores till I send you word.
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