Some were not
backward in letting their contempt for the "Yankees" be known. Here
were three of their strong places taken, in quick succession, and
almost without a blow. Detroit, the strongest of them all, and
defended by an army, had fallen in a way to bring the blush to the
American face, seemingly leaving the whole of the northwestern
frontier of the country ravished from the red man, exposed to his
incursions and depredations.
"What does my father think of this?" asked Bear's Meat of Peter, as
the two stood apart, in a cluster of some three or four of the
principal personages present. "Does the news make his heart
stronger?"
"It is always strong when this business is before it. The Manitou
has long looked darkly upon the red men, but now his face brightens.
The cloud is passing from before his countenance, and we can begin
again to see his smile. It will be with our sons as it was with our
fathers. Our hunting-grounds will be our own, and the buffalo and
deer will be plenty in our wigwams. The fire-water will flow after
them that brought it into the country, and the red man will once
more be happy, as in times past!"
The ignis fatuus of human happiness employs all minds, all
faculties, all pens, and all theories, just at this particular
moment.
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