O Earthmaker, let them come to no harm.
Twisting his hands in his lap, Auguste said, "The New York papers only report what happens on the eastern seaboard." He remembered now overhearing remarks by some of his fellow passengers on the Virginia about "Injun trouble." But he'd kept to himself on the trip up from St. Louis.
We steamed right past the mouth of the Rock River, and I never guessed!
Elysée nodded. "Well, your father insisted that no one write you about it. He feared it would distract you from your studies."
Auguste felt a sudden flash of anger at Pierre de Marion. He does want me to forget that I am a Sauk. Not even telling me when my people are in danger.
He gripped Elysée's arm. "What happened?"
Nicole said, "Frank has a correspondent who writes him regularly from Fort Armstrong."
The American fort, Auguste remembered, was at the mouth of the Rock River, six miles downriver from Saukenuk.
Nicole went on, "Black Hawk's band once again crossed the Mississippi to Saukenuk in the spring, even though the Army has told them over and over that the land now belongs to the Federal government and they must not return to it. This time they found settlers actually living in some of their houses and farming their fields. Black Hawk drove them out. Black Hawk's warriors destroyed settlers' cabins nearby, shot their horses and cows, told them to move away or be killed. Now Governor Reynolds has called up the militia to drive Black Hawk and his people out of Illinois. His proclamation says, 'Dead or alive.'"
Auguste's heart suddenly felt as if ice had formed around it.