Dat all."
As Pigeonswing concluded, he walked coolly away, leaving his friend
to ruminate on the alternative of scalp or no scalp! The bee-hunter
now understood the Chippewa perfectly. He was aware that this man
had means of his own to ascertain what was passing around him in the
Openings, and he had the utmost confidence in his integrity and good
wishes. If a red man is slow to forget an injury, he never forgets a
favor. In this he was as unlike as possible to most of the pale-
faces who were supplanting his race, for these last had, and have,
as extraordinary a tenacity in losing sight of benefits, as they
have in remembering wrongs.
By some means or other, it was now clear that Pigeonswing foresaw
that a crisis was at hand. Had le Bourdon been as disconnected and
solitary as he was when he first met the Chippewa, it is not
probable that either the words or the manner of his friend would
have produced much impression on him, so little accustomed was he to
dwell on the hazards of his frontier position. But the case was now
altogether changed. Margery and her claims stood foremost in his
mind; and through Margery came Dolly and her husband.
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