Their
experience with other settlers had taught them cau-
tion; it soon became clear that they were as eager
to avoid us as we were to shun them, and by common
consent we gave each other ample elbow-room.
But the Indians were all around us, and every settler
had a collection of hair-raising tales to tell of them.
It was generally agreed that they were dangerous
only when they were drunk; but as they were drunk
whenever they could get whisky, and as whisky was
constantly given them in exchange for pelts and
game, there was a harrowing doubt in our minds
whenever they approached us.
In my first encounter with them I was alone in
the woods at sunset with my small brother Harry.
We were hunting a cow James had bought, and our
young eyes were peering eagerly among the trees,
on the alert for any moving object. Suddenly, at
a little distance, and coming directly toward us, we
saw a party of Indians. There were five of them,
all men, walking in single file, as noiselessly as ghosts,
their moccasined feet causing not even a rustle
among the dry leaves that carpeted the woods. All
the horrible stories we had heard of Indian cruelty
flashed into our minds, and for a moment we were
dumb with terror. Then I remembered having been
told that the one thing one must not do before them
is to show fear. Harry was carrying a rope with
which we had expected to lead home our reluctant
cow, and I seized one end of it and whispered
to him that we would ``play horse,'' pretending he
was driving me.
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