"How soon do you march?"
"I don't march at all. I stay here. I'm going to disobey orders."
"If you're going to disobey orders, you have good reason for doing so."
"I have. It was too late to retreat. I'm going to fight. I hear, Lazarre, you know how to handle Indians in the French way."
"My dear Croghan, you insinuate the American way may be better."
"It is, on the western border. It may not be on the northern."
"Then you would not have advised my attempting the Indians here?"
"I shouldn't have discouraged it. When I got the secret order, I said: 'Bring the French—bring the missionaries—bring anything that will cut the comb of Tecumseh!'"
"The missionaries and the French like being classed with—anything," I said.
"We're Americans here," Croghan laughed. "The dauphin may have to fight in the ditch with the rest of us."