Finding her so much wounded that she could not recover, and that she was suffering great agony, he put the finishing stroke to her at once with his tomahawk.

He afterwards said that this was the hardest thing he ever tried to do, but he did it because he could not bear to see her suffer.
He took the mother and her infant to his village, where he became warmly attached to the former--so much so, that he wished to marry her; but, as she very naturally objected, he treated her with the greatest respect and consideration.

He was in no hurry to release her, for he was in hopes of prevailing on her to become his wife.

In the course of the winter her child fell ill.

Finding that none of the remedies within their reach were effectual, Black Partridge proposed to take the little one to Chicago, where there was now a French trader living in the mansion of Mr.Kinzie, and procure some medical aid from him.