Hark, how the
death-cry of all his hated race will ring in madness on
your father's ear!"
Amazement, stupefaction, and horror, filled the mind of
the wretched officer at this extraordinary declaration.
He perfectly recollected that the individual who had
evinced so much personal hostility on the occasion alluded
to, was indeed a man wearing the French uniform, although
at the head of a band of savages, and of a stature and
strength similar to those of him who now so fiercely
avowed himself the bitter and deadly foe of all his race.
If this were so, and his tone and language left little
room for doubt, the doom of the ill-fated garrison was
indeed irrevocably sealed. This mysterious enemy evidently
possessed great influence in the councils of the Indians;
and while the hot breath of his hatred continued to fan
the flame of fierce hostility that had been kindled in
the bosom of Ponteac, whose particular friend he appeared
to be, there would be no end to the atrocities that must
follow. Great, however, as was the dismay of Captain de
Haldimar, who, exhausted with the adventures of the night,
presented a ghastly image of anxiety and fatigue, it was
impossible for him to repress the feelings of indignation
with which the language of this fierce man had inspired
him.
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