Show c n The Wife Ship Wife Wife- Ship 3 Woman By HUGH Author of Kings King of the Missouri Pay Gravel A Virginia Scout etc f to Iv ire h t rr fornI WHITE INDIAN a story of or the old days deye dayson on th the Great Great Inver of or the tha Indian Gather Father of Water Va Wa ter teu of or the White Man the Nan tha outlet out let to the lea sea of the ally the larden Jarden ard n Spot of or the tha World Here Hera Joll Joliet t and MAr Nar quette La Salle end and G George org Rogers nou Clark and Andrew Jackson Jacklon made Malory Here In Indian In dian dlan Frenchman Frenchmen and an American l attl l for tor pO lea lon at St fit i outs In 1804 the red and yellow flan flag of ot Spain came down the tricolor of or France went up and came down and the Stars Stare and went up up-to up to liny atAY Thuu story I. I of or the day duya of and An hie hi At lit New Orleana and III los The Tha hero l III I William The he White Indian an agent of or the tha h The Tha heroine heroin Is la Claire a hand handsome and mysterious young woman who ts is among the pR passengers on the wife Malm Maire which brings bring women from France to tn the colonists col- col The hero r. r rescues the heroine her nine oine from a rumen ruffian Fate ate throws throw I Ithem them together and In pity he befriend be be- friends friend nd her and takes her hr with him when he ho escapes from New Orlean Orleana In an Attempt to tn gain the tha l English settlements with Im Important Im portent reports They have mAny ninny exciting adventure adventures In the wilder wilder- twee with Indian end and white while man and come coma to tn happy ending of their dangers flush writes write the time story atory with that close cloae att attention to historical accuracy which lies hai won him a wide fol lowing CHAPTER I IThe IThe 1 The Natchez Make a Picture The pirogue drifted Into an nil eddy and knowing I J was In III the Immediate vicinity of ot Fort I leaped out and drew my dugout up tip on the bank hunk It was near neur sundown and the shadows V were beginning to creep out from the western bunk Although having had three thre years urs of ot experience with the mighty river It always fascinated me roe especially when the shadows began to rendezvous OIlS or when the time white mists danced before the rising sun attn I never tired of at its irro- irro and sullen onrush rush to the gulf Huch tremendous secrets the time Mississippi sippi could tell tIll I What people had hud haunted Im Its lis shores throughout the time ogee Was wu the red tuna man the first to attack the lime monsters drinking from Its lis flood I hn hind had trU ll traveled ll d It much and al always al 01 ways wars found It to be n II mystery It Jt was urns a u sinister tyrant a whimsical plant giant what you oU would It flowed through hobgoblin land No tale tole was wall too strange and on fantastic for tor belief hellet If It connected with the Mississippi I prided myself on m my hard herd headed Eng Eng- lisle II-h sense and yet I could not resist Its ita lure There Thero was no beauty to attract at attract tract trot ate nie na I f hn had 1 observed along the more mort gracious Ohio There was wo lacking lurking that spell of ot utter desolation which I hind found 1 In III pushing up the muddy noddy current of the Missouri It was wn wasi wasn i n rapacious thing a u fickle tiling thing Its potentials It its ItI I many promises of Incredible Int In In- t credible achievements haunted me Such puny t triflers riders as nil La Salle and to no Soto had hod been peremptorily dealt with the assassins assassin's bullet for one and the tho rivers river's maw mow for the other And I two were simply types of countless count less others of high and low degree even Including my humble self and andRU RU such Ruoh I savage yet dependable fellows as the I Fox For ox who hud bud parted from fromme me rime at the mouth of If tho the Ohio And And what fortune did time the river hold hll for tor Spain for I France for tor England I Since the wreck of ot the Armada Spain was out of the game except ns OB It t won temporary success by hy rather desultory playing Solitude had bod made mode me something something some some- thin thing of ot a philosopher Just jut as my oc oe- occupation tutored me nip In politics If It I tilled filled my lonely watches with mooning over O the mysteries of ot time tilt Inscrutable waterway also did dill I 1 observe e much w I which pl pleased Governor OO Spotswood of tit Virginia and other notable leaders siong liong the tile Atlantic coast John Laws Law's amazing circle of ot fl fl- fl with the mighty empire of ot prance France thoroughly gullible was closely close 1 ly by watched by hy us III In America even I If It ve we could not foresee how swiftly the w would follow the first of tit weakness l In his its system There are hose hope who In calmer years have held that the time fantastic notions concerning Hie Ilse country grew up ul from the Ihl prodigious falsehoods nurtured l by hy bythe bytho the lilt Company of nt the Indies better known as the Mississippi company I J never could accept this Ihl process of or reason lIn In truth I 1 reversed It It i. I have hun held that t Beau Law could lIt not P H staged singed the greatest gambling of ot the time aies 1 hut had not time the WO way waybe bt be n smoothly paved for tor him by I Europe's Eu lu- u- u ropes rope's credulity In the time marvelous nil and impossible Only because It was the H age e t of lit fairy stories were halt half a u million mil lion I foreigners ners Hod flod Ing madly to the rue to trade In the shares of ot the Mississippi company Ve e In lint and the Carolinas were wre Intimately informed of ot the doings of ot Law from the time he organized his hi first company It was common knowledge knowl knowl- edge hI how mU ant and historians were VerI vying with each earh other In p Ipu pu- pu miracles In the time new world tie roe could lift ones one's lne self elf by hy the bootstraps hoot boot straps rIps In Louisiana The Mississippi w was but t another pants name for t hyperbole I Its ts tributaries drained regions where strange white races dwelt along the of at vast Inland lakes hemmed In n b by II sands nde of at purest gold I J was no skeptic concerning mines and nd possible pearl fisheries In la the gulf uIt But lut when Immigrants poured In and expected to tn find unicorns and other monsters ream In the land of at the Uie In Ift I J laughed I I knew new the river as ne well as any voyageur For three full tull years I Iad bad ad sailed It from the northern lakes to o the gulf I accepted mines as ns pos pos- for tor the wealth of at the time southern south- south ern rn continent was a matter motter of history but tit when hen they talked tolke-d of dwarfs and giants lants anti and ethereally beautiful Indian maidens I must see them before bellev belles Ing n When the Fox heard such uch yarns yarns-and yarns he Ise was most at home homen In n the wigwam he wigwam he would smile with hIs its tongue In ln his hll cheek The l English feared that the of the French In exploiting the Louisiana country and their feverish Torts efforts to populate It It would give the time vast ast valley volley to Louis XV not Hut I 1 could not forget that Frances France's belief bellet In the marvelous roust must be reflected In her colonists And I 1 could not believe that Louisiann would bo be held by those who believed oo In myths end and fairies no more than ban tho time J could auld have o held the const coast settlements If In Instead of at pro pro- making nicking homes they hAd hud dwelt velt dwelton on n the doings of ot King Arthurs Arthur's Ar- Ar thurs thur's knights Trade was wan to shape the he destiny of at the tho Mississippi basin buln Those hose who persisted In dwelling In elf elf- dour dam oin must roust lose the race Beau Deou Laws Law's job fob wee was to keep life his stock tock from tram exploding and within three years cars ho he had seen It rise from MO to a share I The Tho Englishman's English mans man's Job lob was to bring makers home Into nto the tho country and e establish permanent permanent perma- perma nent ent nent communities Homes Home and crops first then mines If It there be any So Sotor far tor or as DB I could foresee the tho very na no- nail tore il re of at Laws Law's advertising ad must meet defeat its hits plan to people the valley olly 1 From rom its hIs residence in Place Ilace Louis Louts l 16 Grand Orand Orando ho o might order the sailing of ot man many ships hips but who would fill nil them The absurd tales peddled by hy his agents could attract only tho time dissolute the reckless eckless the time purely adventurous but never ever the time heads beads of ot families The coming and going of these tin tin- table stable clos classes e would leave no French foothold on In the land In all my work of f spying up ant and down the river 1 I knew know of at but ono otio menace to English ambitions tho the linking linkIng ot of Canada to ho tho gulf gnU by n a i chain of ot forts tort a thereby making taking permanent settlements pos pos- sIble Ible This Tile was n the sighted far plan of f Loule de Rondo count of ot Frontenac one of the greatest Frenchmen of ut his its time In the time consummation of ot his original plans limy lay J Frances Franco's strength and nd I England's peril To detect any adoption of at this mo most 1 sensible policy polky had engaged much of at ny nay time and w WM ad responsible for tor m my uneasy measy flitting up and down the time river The Kaskaskia settlements and the tilt hull building ding of at J Fort ort might meun mean fri I 1 1 11 1 It Was Wat the First French Settlement In Inthe inthe the tho Valley South of Kaskaskia the scheme was being worked out In Inthe Inthe inthe the Illinois country It would amount to 10 but lout little unless extended d down town to the time gulf gult Hence my desire to learn If It Fort had taken on any political Importance or remained r simply n a storehouse for French rench trade With my smooth bore flintlock o over er ermy my 01 shoulder I my lOr way up the bluff crowned with oaks onks When Iber Iber- vale IIII that great apostle of ot I commercial future first saw the gracious grit gMt cious closs hills around the rain main village of ot the Natchez Indians he ft fell In love with the spot And he built time the tradIng trad- trad Ing post and named It after Madame time tho Duchess Duchene of ot It was time the first permanent French settlement In the time valley Il south sooth lIth of ot Kaskaskia Ah Alm I Hut But those French were beforehand If It they could uld have held what they were ere first t to take bow how differently his his- I It tore tart n would read I It was now my business to recon recon- the tort the fort and ob observe erve bow how much strength the place ice had hod gained since 1 I Iwas was VOl there last Of Ot first Importance also was to learn the attitude the at-the Natchez toward the tho French White Apple the main Natchez village vII vil lage loge was located about three miles southwest st of at the fort tort on a small stream and was less than three miles from tram th the 1 Mississippi After Aller recon recon- nattering the fort tort I planned to return to my pirogue und mind take the water route to this village On my last passage up the rl river er the Natchez were very friendly with the French but much can lon happen between voyages The had hod been developing develop develop- ing an nn ugly streak for months Unlike the Natchez the Choctaws and saws preferred New En England lond rum to French brandy while there was no questioning the superiority of at English over o French trade goods I worked along the blurt bluff until within with within in sight of ot the time post and breathed In deep relief The storehouse seemed closed and I 1 could discover no signs of ot any new cabins in the background The Tho place had grown none unless It be some name few tew settlers had hall built cabins Invisible invisible In in- visible from my position A minute of at study satisfied me mp and I began retreatIng retreat retreat- Ing lag toward my pirogue when wilen a noise between me and time the river sent me to me-to to ground and to cover over It was a slight tapping noise and suggested a woodpecker I 1 crawled toward towan It but again sought cover corer as careless steps sounded in the growth The man passed quite near me lIe He was wasa wasn a R tall tell fellow ow at least an on Inch over six feet fet with the mahogany complexion and the graceful powerful physique of ot the tho Natchez z After Atter he had bod passed from hearing I took toole his trail and easily followed It back to tho the edge of ot the bluff It ended In an on opening which afforded a magnificent view of ot the river and there I 1 found what had bad caused the tapping toppIng And AnI it made my heart glad for It threatened much trouble for tor the people of ot young oung Louis louls XV CV and his dissolute dis solute uncle the tho duke of at Orleans re re- tent sent When the tho French fell tell the English English English Eng Eng- lish went up up and and It was wa a dressed skin mado made fast to the bole of an ancient oak with two reed arrows painted red stuck In the ground before It In t the farm of an X On It was wo painted pointed a hieroglyphic Vie pic- lure In the upper right of ot the th picture pic pIc- tore lure was the red and white feathered headdress worn by the Grand Orand or Groat Sun as the time head hend duet chief of ot the Natchez was Vos called Next was depicted n a naked Natchez Natch warrior holding a ivar war or club Then came an on arrow pointing at a figure fiure over tr the head of which was n a crude representation of ot the fleur de Below TIe TIe- low was n R moon monn anI and the outline of a n peach and n a bunch of ot grapes followed tollo by hy ninny straight marks lacing Bring translated It announced that time the Great Orent Sun SlID of ot the Natchez declared his Intention of at tanking making war on 01 the French during the Moon of Peaches It t was now the tenth of ot Juno the Moon of ot Watermelons Tho The Moron Moon of at Peaches was J July ly Counting the narks mark I 1 found there were werf 28 S of ot them Ulem and T i knew knew hat that within BO ro days war would begin If It nothing Intervened In inthe he the meantime to 10 cause the autocrat of be the Natchez Nacelles to change his hH mind Here lItre was os a 8 matter of ot great importance Import Import- ance line Here was t something to take to as all n a proof of my t sincerity were the tho French Inclined to suspect et me of f being English at heart henrt as all welT well as RII of name Aside from tram this Ills In Instinct of at self self- preservation atlon was the likelihood that the he Natchez would change their minds before It came clime time to 10 smoke the flunk final war calumet Fur For Tattooed Serpent Serpent- erroneously culled Stung tI 1 Serpent by bythe he the French war French war chief of ot time the Natchez mind ami a u brother of ot the Great Greut Sun Sum hod been een a n consistent friend of ot the time French ever since the trouble In 1710 1716 and hl his great reut Influence would be lit against war As his brother had great affection for far n. n him I did not believe the threat on th time the painted hide would be tie curried carried out Also word of the time declaration was sure to reach speedily However How V for tur the time declaration e ever er r my purpose was wot of ot much i Importance provided I r were the first to carry curry time the news newil d down dean 1 the tbt river rl Until changed the war plans of ot the Natchez were here of ot evil Im Inc i I i. i Th port pun to IO IU lund ewer j. j A AU UR a iii man i iwho who first curried carried the time word would woul be doing a great reut service for tor France Franc I proposed to do du that service and thereby thereby thereby there |