"We
are the enemies not of St. Luc, but of his nation. We will meet him
fairly as he will meet us fairly, and I see good reasons why you and he
should be friends."
"But in the coming war he's likely to be one of our ablest and most
enterprising foes."
"That's true, Robert, but it does not change my view. Brave men should
like brave men, and if it is war I hope you and St. Luc will not meet in
battle."
"You, too, seem to take an interest in him, Dave."
"I like him," said Willet briefly. Then he shrugged his shoulders, and
changed the subject.
The great festival went on, and the agents of Corlear and Onontio were
still kept waiting. The sachems would not hear a word from either. As
Robert understood it, they felt that the Maple Dance might not be
celebrated again for years. These old men, warriors and statesmen both,
saw the huge black clouds rolling up and they knew they portended a
storm, tremendous beyond any that North America had known. France and
England, and that meant their colonies, too, would soon be locked fast
in deadly combat, and the Hodenosaunee, who were the third power, must
look with all their eyes and think with all their strength.
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