moved in and out among the busy throng, every now and then stealing aside to speak a word of encouragement to his young wife, who stood watching by the mess-room door.  There was quite a bevy gathered there, officers’ wives for the most part, gazing in mingled interest and apprehension upon the scene.  I marked among them Josette, who had come in that evening with the Kinzies; and as I drew yet nearer the group, a sudden blazing up of the fire yielded me a glimpse of Mademoiselle, and I turned hastily away, unwilling still to greet or be greeted by her.

Gaunt frontiersmen stalked about, having little to save and nothing to do, with the inevitable long rifle held in the hollow of the arm; Captain Wells’s Miamis skulked uneasily in dark corners, or hung over the embers to cook some ration yet unused, their dark skins and long coarse hair a reminder to us of the hostiles who watched without.  Captain Heald, in company with Captain Wells and John Kinzie, the latter conspicuous by his white beard, stood long in deep converse near the barracks, leaning against the black logs.  I felt the two latter were urging some change of plan; but in the end Wells left in vexation, almost in anger, striding across the parade-ground to the northern block-house.

In the shadow of the south stockade, some one was softly playing upon a violin, the sweet notes stealing up through the wild hubbub in strains of silvery sound.  Close upon one side of the fire, forgetful of the heat in their deep interest, two young soldiers were engrossed in a game of cards, while a group of comrades commented freely on the fortunes of the play.  Scarcely a yard distant, a grizzled old sergeant,—­a veteran of the great war, no doubt,—­bent above a book held open upon his knee, the shape of which bespoke a Bible; while on the other side a bevy of children were romping with their dogs or playing with sharp knives in the hard ground.  A woman over by the gate lifted a sweet contralto voice in an old-time love-song, and had hardly lilted the opening line before others joined her, making the night resound to the tender melody.  I saw the soldiers pause in their work to beat time, and marked the dark forms of the sentries above on the palisades as they leaned over to listen, every heart set throbbing with the memory of days gone by.

“Man is indeed a strange animal,” said a voice beside me, and I turned to greet Ensign Ronan.  “He can sing, laugh, and jest, in death’s very teeth.”

“’T is better, surely, than to cry,” I commented.  “But these do not so much as dream of death; the pledge of the Pottawattomies has brought renewed hope.”

“Yes, I know; though I confess I have little faith in it.  And there will be plenty of danger about us before we see Fort Wayne, even if they pass us in safety around the lake.  There will be leagues of travel through hostile territory.  That,” he added, “is, to my mind, the only sensible way of preparation, for the morrow.”