At War with Pontiac

War with Pontiac, by Kirk Munroe and J. Finnemore

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Title: At War with Pontiac The Totem of the Bear
Author: Kirk Munroe and J. Finnemore
Release Date: September 9, 2006 [EBook #19223]
Language: English
Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK AT WAR WITH PONTIAC ***

Produced by Al Haines

[Frontispiece: Donald is unexpectedly saved from a terrible death.]

AT WAR WITH PONTIAC
or
THE TOTEM OF THE BEAR
A TALE OF REDCOAT AND REDSKIN

by
KIRK MUNROE

AUTHOR OF "THE WHITE CONQUERORS," ETC.

ILLUSTRATED BY J. FINNEMORE

NEW YORK
CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS
1922

COPYRIGHT, 1895, BY
CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS

TABLE OF CONTENTS
CHAPTER
I.
TAWTRY HOUSE II. THE MAJOR GAINS A FRIEND AND MAKES AN ENEMY III. TRUMAN FLAGG'S STORY IV. ESCAPE OF THE PRISONERS V. A BABY LOST AND RECOVERED VI. THE WILDERNESS VII. THE MAJOR RE-ENTERS ACTIVE SERVICE VIII. DONALD SETS FORTH ON A PERILOUS MISSION IX. ST. AUBIN'S STARTLING INFORMATION X. PONTIAC DECLARES WAR XI. MAJOR HESTER IS TAKEN PRISONER XII. DONALD AT JOHNSON CASTLE XIII. PAYMASTER BULLEN AND HIS WONDERFUL TUB XIV. A WHITE MEDICINE MAN XV. DONALD AND CHRISTIE CEMENT A FRIENDSHIP XVI. QUICKEYE AND THE "ZEBRA" XVII. A BRAVE GIRL CAPTIVE XVIII. SURPRISE AND DESTRUCTION OF THE BOAT BRIGADE XIX. THE TOTEM SAVES DONALD'S LIFE XX. BITTER DISAPPOINTMENT AT FORT DETROIT XXI. IN SEARCH OF A LOST SISTER XXII. AMID THE RUINS OF FORT SANDUSKY XXIII. DISCOVERED AND PURSUED BY SAVAGES XXIV. CHRISTIE'S BRAVE DEFENCE OF HIS POST XXV. DONALD FIRES THE MINE AND SAVES THE BLOCKHOUSE XXVI. FRIENDS IN CAPTIVITY XXVII. HOW THE PAYMASTER NAVIGATED LAKE ERIE IN A TUB XXVIII. THE PAYMASTER IN WAR-PAINT AND FEATHERS XXIX. DONALD AND THE PAYMASTER ESCAPE XXX. IMMINENT DANGER OF THE SCHOONER GLADWYN XXXI. PONTIAC RECOGNIZES THE TOTEM XXXII. LAST CRUISE OF THE PAYMASTER'S TUB XXXIII. FORT DETROIT IS REINFORCED XXXIV. AH-MO, THE DAUGHTER OF PONTIAC XXXV. A NIGHT OF FIGHTING AND TERROR XXXVI. BRAVE DEATH OF THE OLD MAJOR XXXVII. THE CURSE OF THE MAGIC CIRCLE XXXVIII. A WINTER IN THE WILDERNESS XXXIX. AN ADOPTED DAUGHTER OF THE FOREST XL. THE PRINCESS ANSWERS DONALD'S QUESTION

ILLUSTRATIONS
DONALD IS UNEXPECTEDLY SAVED FROM A TERRIBLE DEATH . . . . . . Frontispiece
"THESE TWO PADDLED THEIR WAY AGAINST THE SWIFT CURRENT OF THE MOHAWK"
DONALD AND HIS TWO COMPANIONS ARE PURSUED BY INDIANS
PONTIAC DISCOVERS THAT DONALD IS TATTOOED WITH THE MAGIC CIRCLE

AT WAR WITH PONTIAC
OR
THE TOTEM OF THE BEAR
A TALE OF REDCOAT AND REDSKIN
CHAPTER I
TAWTRY HOUSE
A glorious midsummer day was drawing to a close; its heat had passed; the tall forest trees, whose leaves were pleasantly rustled by the cool breeze of approaching night, flung a bridge of tremulous shadows across the surface of Loch Meg, and all nature was at peace. The tiny lake, though bearing an old-world name, was of the new world, and was one of the myriad forest gems that decked the wilderness of western New York a century and a half ago. It was embraced in a patent recently granted by the English king to his well-approved servant Graham Hester, whose bravery and wounds had won for him an honorable retirement, with the rank of major in a Highland regiment, ere he was forty years of age. Being thus provided with an ample estate, Major Hester, with his young wife and half a dozen trusty followers, left the old world for the new, and plunged into its wilderness. Though somewhat dismayed to find his property located a score of leagues beyond that of his nearest white neighbor, the major was at the same time gratified to discover in that neighbor his old friend and comrade, William Johnson, through whose diplomacy the powerful Iroquois tribes of the Six Nations were allied to the English and kept at peace.
On a crest of land overlooking and sloping gently down to the blue lakelet which Major Hester had named in honor of his wife, he erected a substantial blockhouse of squared timbers. Behind it were ranged a number of log outbuildings about three sides of a square, in the centre of which was dug a deep well. Having thus in a time of peace prepared for war, the proprietor began the improvement of his estate with such success that, within three years from the felling of the first tree, several acres of gloomy forest were replaced by smiling fields. A young orchard was in sturdy growth, a small herd of cattle found ample pasturage on the borders of the lake, and on all sides were evidences of thrift and plenty.
The military instinct of the proprietor caused all forest growth to be cleared from a