The face of Black Hawk appeared in Auguste's mind, and suddenly he understood the wrath that had always seemed to smoulder just below the war chief's skin. This must be how Black Hawk felt when the pale eyes told him he could no longer come to Saukenuk. That was why Black Hawk had been leading his people back to Saukenuk year after year. He would not give up. And neither would Auguste. _I must fight. I promised my father I would fight for this land. I smoked the calumet with him._ He remembered Pierre's words: _Now you have a chance to own land, to be rich and to have power. You can learn how to use your wealth to protect your people._ And he was losing that chance. As he saw these rich acres being torn away from him, more and more he felt himself wanting them. But how to fight for the land? To charge Raoul's pistol and the rifles of his men would simply mean death. Surely that was not what Pierre wanted for him. An unfamiliar voice said, "Is this really how you settle land disputes in Smith County?" Auguste turned to see David Cooper, a lean, hard-eyed man he had met several weeks earlier when Cooper had visited Pierre to pay his respects. Raoul said, "Don't you like the way we do things here, Cooper?" Cooper's cold expression did not change. "Just requesting information, Mr. de Marion. That's all." Cooper had brought his family to Victor from some place in Indiana three years ago, buying a choice piece of bottomland from Pierre. Auguste had learned that he was a veteran of the War of 1812. Justus Bennett, the county land commissioner, who Auguste knew to be one of Raoul's creatures, said, "Mr. Cooper, I've been reading law most of my adult life, and I can assure you Mr. Raoul de Marion has as sound a case under common law and English precedent as I've ever seen." Auguste doubted that anyone here knew what that meant, impressive as it might sound. _The whites know how to twist any law to their advantage._ Cooper said nothing further. These people might feel sorry for him, Auguste thought, and resent what Raoul was doing. But he'd get no help from any of the men who were standing around behind him. Raoul and his men were armed and determined, and the rest of the people here were not ready to give up their lives to help a half-breed. But Auguste had taken advantage of Raoul's distraction with Cooper and Bennett to cut the distance between himself and his uncle in half. If he could get close enough to Raoul he might have a chance to get at him with his knife. He'd worn the deerhorn-handled knife today only because his father had given it to him. As he hesitated, he heard footsteps in the grass and turned to see his grandfather walking toward Raoul with slow but firm steps, thumping his walking stick on the ground. "No, Grandpapa!" Auguste called out to him. "This is my son, I very much regret to say," said Elysee. "And I must administer correction."