“The conversation has wandered, foolishly on my part, I admit. I have lacked in tact, but the first fault I swear is due to the attitude of the Burgesses in neglecting to take proper measures for defending the frontier. Before England can send sufficient supplies to Virginia this war will have ended. There is plenty of powder at Williamsburg. Why doesn’t the House of Burgesses send it to the border?”
“There is but a small store at the most, Your Excellency.”
“But why retain it when it is needed elsewhere?”
“That is hardly a question I can answer,” was the stiff reply. Then with a flash of heat:
“It’s a shame! We repeatedly urge those families to stick, not to come off their creeks until they’ve laid by their corn and harvested their oats; and they are denied the simple means of defending their lives. Whether the Burgesses or the royal governor be at fault the fact remains that the settlers pay in blood and anguish.”
“If there is any powder at Williamsburg or Norfolk that I can lay hands to, it shall go over the mountains. At least the royal governor will prove his hands are clean,” solemnly declared His Excellency.
“I’ll warrant that Pennsylvania has traded enough guns and powder to the Shawnee and Mingos,” moodily observed the colonel.
“There’s too much talk in Williamsburg over peoples’ rights, and not enough concern for peoples’ lives,” declared His Excellency. “It would be a good thing if the House of Burgesses could be locked up in a fort and made to repel an Indian attack.”
“Well, well,” sighed the colonel, “we’ll never lick the Ohio tribes with proclamations and empty hands.”
“By gad, sir! We’ll whip them with powder and lead! I’ve set myself to the task of crushing the Indian power. It shall be done!”