Myths and Legends of Our Own Land, vol 6 | Page 2

Take which you like."
It was a deliberate insult and defiance. Both sides knew it, and many of
the men held their breath. Clarke carelessly picked up the war-belt on
the point of his cane and flung it among the assembled chiefs. Every
man in the room sprang to his feet and clutched his weapon. Then, with
a sternness that was almost ferocious, Clarke pointed to the door with
an imperative action, and cried, "Dogs, you may go!"
The Indians were foiled in their ill intent by his self-possession and

seeming confidence, which made them believe that he had forces in the
vicinity that they were not prepared to meet. They had already had a
bitter experience of his strength and craft, and in the fear that a trap had
been set for them they fled tumultuously. The treaty was ratified soon
after.

THE OBSTINACY OF SAINT CLAIR
When the new First Regiment of United States Infantry paused at
Marietta, Ohio, on its way to garrison Vincennes, its officers made a
gay little court there for a time. The young Major Hamtramck--
contemptuously called by the Indians "the frog on horseback," because
of his round shoulders--found especial pleasure in the society of
Marianne Navarre, who was a guest at the house of General Arthur St.
Clair; but the old general viewed this predilection with disfavor,
because he had hoped that his own daughter would make a match with
the major. But Louisa longed for the freedom of the woods. She was a
horsewoman and a hunter, and she had a sentimental fondness for
Indians.
When Joseph Brandt (Thayendanegea) camped with his dreaded band
near the town, it was she who--without her father's knowledge, and in
the disguise of an Indian girl--took the message that had been entrusted
to a soldier asking the tribe to send delegates to a peace council at the
fort. Louisa and Brandt had met in Philadelphia some years before,
when both were students in that city, and he was rejoiced to meet her
again, for he had made no secret of his liking for her, and in view of the
bravery she had shown in thus riding into a hostile camp his fondness
increased to admiration. After she had delivered the message she said,
"Noble warrior, I have risked my life to obtain this interview. You must
send some one back with me." Brandt replied, "It is fitting that I alone
should guard so courageous a maiden," and he rode with her through
the lines, under the eyes of a wondering and frowning people, straight
to the general's door. Soon after, Brandt made a formal demand for the
hand of this dashing maid, but the stubborn general refused to consider
it. He was determined that she ought to love Major Hamtramck, and he
told her so in tones so loud that they reached the ears of Marianne, as
she sat reading in her room. Stung by this disclosure of the general's
wishes, and doubting whether the major had been true to her--fearful,

too, that she might be regarded as an interloper--she made a pretext to
return as quickly as possible to her home in Detroit, and left no adieus
for her lover.
It was not long after that war broke out between the settlers and the
Indians, for Brandt now had a personal as well as a race grudge to
gratify, though when he defeated St. Clair he spared his life in the hope
that the general would reward his generosity by resigning to him his
daughter. At all events, he resolved that the "frog on horseback," whom
he conceived to be his rival, should not win her. The poor major, who
cared nothing for Louisa, and who was unable to account for the flight
of Marianne, mourned her absence until it was rumored that she had
been married, when, as much in spite as in love, he took to himself a
mate. After he had been for some time a widower he met Marianne
again, and learned that she was still a maiden. He renewed his court
with ardor, but the woman's love for him had died when she learned of
his marriage. Affecting to make light of this second disappointment, he
said, "Since I cannot be united to you in life, I shall be near you in
death."
"A soldier cannot choose where he shall die," she answered.
"No matter. I shall sleep in the shadow of your tomb."
As it fell out they were indeed buried near each other in Detroit. Thus,
the stupidity and obstinacy of General St. Clair, in supposing that he
could make young folks love to order, thwarted the happiness of four
people and precipitated a war.

THE HUNDREDTH SKULL
In the early part of this century Bill Quick,