But after this man came among them they began to miss--one a beaver-skin and one a bag of ginseng, and one a belt of wampum, until at last old Pete Hendricks lost his chestnut three-year-old.

Then there was a search and a fuss until they found all that had been lost in the stable of the new-comer, so we took him, I and some others, and we hung him up on a tree, without ever thinking what a great man he had been." De Catinat shot an angry glance at his companion.

"Your parable, my friend, is scarce polite," said he.

"If you and I are to travel in peace you must keep a closer guard upon your tongue." "I would not give you offence, and it may be that I am wrong," answered the American, "but I speak as the matter seems to me, and it is the right of a free man to do that." De Catinat's frown relaxed as the other turned his earnest blue eyes upon him.

"By my soul, where would the court be if every man did that ?" said he.