Adventure Magazine Cover — page 114: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

108 and the Trade Knife formed a sinister background for all of Ballou’s fears. The report of the scouts would be like a shot from a bush. ln reas nothing happened. The warriors maintained their attitude of waiting and even the hunters seemed loath to leave the camp. In the middle of the afternoon Sleeping Wolf came to Ballou and courte- ously announced— “The great Pontiac asks the Trade Knife to come to his cabin for a talk.” “It’s going to happen,”’ mumbled Meekly. “Better take a knife.” But Ballou did not believe he stood in any personal danger so long as neither the scouts, nor Tamaque, appeared to denounce him. Unarmed he left the fire and followed the Wolf to the hut. He did not relish the THE sun crossed the zenith and scrupulous care of the savages in turning - their heads away as he passed. Heretofore he-had received venomous scowls, and, be- cause of his defiance of Pontiac he had ex- pected the malignant glances to be doubled. This general avoidance of his gaze impressed him as having been planned. Being convinced the red men had are ranged a definite program and were keeping him in ignorance of its details was equiva- lent to believing his luck was deserting him. There remained, however, the thin hope that Pontiac was about to inform him of all that was about to happen. He entered the cabin, and after blinking the sun-glare from his eyes turned on his conductor and sus- piciously demanded: ‘““What does this mean? not here.”’ Sleeping Wolf readily explained: ‘“‘He was here when he told the Wolf to go to you. He has stepped out. Perhaps he has gone to look on the four dead men. Per- haps he will lay the knife of the manitos’ child on the dead men’s heads and listen for ghost voices to tell him who killed them. Or perhaps he has walked through the Wyandotte village with Ninivois and Take, so they may talk alone. He will be back soon. Let the Trade Knife smoke his pipe and wait. The Wolf will go and look for him.” ‘He knew I was coming. He is not here,” complained Ballou. Sleeping Wolf’s small eyes dilated, and in savage irony he demanded: Your chief is Adventure “Has our brother lived so long with the Leni-lenape that he has not heard of Pontiac? Does he believe that the mighty Pontiac runs to a man when he would talk with him? Has he not heard that- men come to Pontiac and wait in silence until spoken to?” “The Trade Knife has lived long with the ‘real men’ whom the Three Fires call Grand- father. Chiefs of that people are ready to talk when they send for a warrior to come and sit on a mat.” With that he dropped on a robe and ig- nored the scowling visage of the Wolf. The Wolf was in a mind to make harsh reply to the young man’s bold speech, but thought better of it and left the hut. Ballou was greatly disturbed by Pontiac’s absence. Only a madman would refuse to heed Pon- tiac’s summons, but red etiquette moved in a deep groove. When a man was sent for, let him be but a novice on the war-path, and he would find his chief E waite to re- ceive him. The unwritten laws were more closely observed by the Indian than were the written laws by the white man. Pontiac had not forgotten he had sent for the Knife. No alarm had called him from his hut. Therefore, his absence was based on a very definite cause and doubtless was timed so to avoid a meeting with the man he had sum- moned. Ballou arose and examined the cabin in lack of anything better to occupy his mind. He decided that while Pontiac was the greatest of war-chiefs he was exceedingly indifferent to his surroundings. Bones and rubbish littered one end of the hut, a con- dition that no self-respecting Wyandotte or Delaware would endure. As the minutes passed and the chief did not put in an appearance Ballou stepped to the door. He was surprized to behold the camp empty of savages. He assumed they had gone to the forest in answer to a smoke, signaling the return of the scouts. “But it’s mighty queer there wasn’t any yowling,” he muttered. ‘Not even a single yell, let alone any gun-firing. They couldn’t be more quiet if they was creeping out to make a surprize attack.” Then he grew intensely angry at Pontiac’s protracted absence. But first in his realiza- tion was the fact that the adopted son of Tamaque was being scurvily treated. He returned to his robe and filled his pipe and COnniclboooks C@