"Montlivet, we will stop this attack—if we can hold the Indians."
"It is not possible to hold the Indians. They are blood drunk. We should have general massacre."
"Then you must leave. You can go with Onanguissé. He says that if his adopted daughter is with the Senecas he will not join in the attack."
"No, I shall not go with him. I shall lead the allied force of
Indians, monsieur."
Cadillac looked me over. I saw, with my own face cold, that his was not steady.
"No victory is worth that," I heard him say, and I listened as if he spoke of another's sorrow. "It is not necessary, Montlivet."
"It is absolutely necessary. The war chiefs are jealous. Without a leader they will fall on one another and we shall have sickening massacre. You cannot lead them, for you do not speak their language."
"But even granting that"——
I touched his sleeve. "Monsieur, I have been alone. I have thought it out. There is no escape. I do not know why life should give a man such a thing to do, but it is here. I have told the Indians that I represented the king; that I stood for government, protection. I have called them here in the name of law. It is a new word to them, and I have forced its meaning into their minds. And so they trust me. They trust me in the name of this law I talk about. If I desert them now, they will lapse into savagery of the worst kind. We shall have anarchy. Blood will flow for years. No Frenchman's life will be safe. I have the best men of six tribes here, and they will think themselves deceived and pay us in red coin. I have been alone. I have thought it out. I cannot do wholesale murder to save one life, even if it is my wife whose life is to be forfeit. We must go on."
Cadillac put out his hand and caught my shoulder. I had reeled against him as I spoke. He removed his hat.