They Felt As If
They Had Been Duped And Made Tools Of, By A Set Of Shrewd Men Of
Traffic, Who Had Employed Them To Crack The Nut, While They
Carried Off The Kernel.
In a word, M'Dougal found himself so
ungraciously received by his countrymen on board of the ship,
that he was glad to cut short his visit, and return to shore.
He
was busy at the fort, making preparations for the reception of
the captain of the Raccoon, when his one-eyed Indian father-in-
law made his appearance, with a train of Chinook warriors, all
painted and equipped in warlike style.
Old Comcomly had beheld, with dismay, the arrival of a "big war
canoe" displaying the British flag. The shrewd old savage had
become something of a politician in the course of his daily
visits at the fort. He knew of the war existing between the
nations, but knew nothing of the arrangement between M'Dougal and
M'Tavish. He trembled, therefore, for the power of his white son-
in-law, and the new-fledged grandeur of his daughter, and
assembled his warriors in all haste. "King George," said he, "has
sent his great canoe to destroy the fort, and make slaves of all
the inhabitants. Shall we suffer it? The Americans are the first
white men that have fixed themselves in the land. They have
treated us like brothers. Their great chief has taken my daughter
to be his squaw: we are, therefore, as one people."
His warriors all determined to stand by the Americans to the
last, and to this effect they came painted and armed for battle.
Comcomly made a spirited war-speech to his son-in-law.
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