"Fear nothing," I hastened to assure him. "We are safer now than when we were alone. My brother and his people can be trusted with our lives and our property." "It is true, senor," remarked Tecumseh in clear though guttural English. "Scalp Boy and his friends are sacred in the eyes of all Shawnees. He is a member of our tribe and my brother." I reached out and grasped the hand of the chief as the canoe came alongside. "Come aboard and feast with us," I said. He shook his head. "No, Scalp Boy; that may not be. It warms my heart to again grasp your hand; but you are an American white man; you have long ago forgotten your Shawnee kindred--" "No, no, Tecumseh! I have always remembered you and Elskwatawa, my true-hearted brothers--" "Tecumseh does not blame his white brother for returning to his white kindred. There is no enmity between us. But Elskwatawa our brother has become a communer with the Great Spirit, and he has told the redman how evil are the customs and food and firewater of the white man. It is evil for the redman to mingle with the white people." "Have you then taken the warpath, my brother? Is that why you came out against us in war paint?" I asked. "We came out to attack you because we had need of powder, and I would not beg. But we are not on the warpath." "You are far from home," I remarked. He swept his hand around in a grand gesture. "Elskwatawa the Prophet and I make a great journey to our red cousins. We visit all the tribes from the Great Lakes to that greater water in the South which the white people call the Gulf." "To form a great conspiracy against my people!" I exclaimed. "Your people!" he repeated. "No, we seek to convince the tribes of my people that they are all brothers, and should join in one nation." "That they may seek to destroy the white people!" "That they may hold back the white man from stealing any more of their land." He had me there. I could only look my regret; for I knew that, whatever his intent, the result must be war. He returned to the object of his averted attack. "Give us powder and lead, Scalp Boy. We cannot eat the white man's food. We need powder and lead to shoot game." "Not to make war?" I asked. "I speak with a straight tongue," he said. At this I went into the cabin and fetched out a small keg of powder and a quarter-hundredweight of lead. He motioned me to hand the gifts to the warrior in the stern of the canoe, and when I turned again to him, he held out a beautifully wrought belt of wampum. "It is little I can give to my brother," he said. "I take the gift because my brother offers it," I replied. "What I have given is nothing. All that I could give would not repay what Tecumseh did for me in my boyhood!" He looked me up and down with an approving glance. "Scalp Boy has grown to be a great warrior. I will ask the Great Spirit that we may never meet on the battlefield."