BABY. Welcome! thrice welcome! Brave Brock, to Sandwich and this loyal roof! Thank God, your oars, those weary levers bent In many a wave, have been unshipped at last; And, now methinks those lads who stemmed the flood Would boldly face the fire. BROCK. I never led Men of more cheerful and courageous heart, But for whose pluck, foul weather and short seas, 'Twere truth to say, had made an end of us. Another trial will, I think, approve The manly strain this Canada hath bred. PROCTOR. 'Tis pity that must be denied them now, Since all our enemies have left our shores. BROCK. No, by my soul, it shall not be denied! Our foe's withdrawal hath a magnet's power And pulls my spirit clean into his fort. But I have asked you to confer on this. What keeps Tecumseh? ELLIOTT. 'Tis his friend, Lefroy, Who now rejoins him, after bootless quest Of Iena, Tecumseh's niece. BROCK. Lefroy! I had a gentle playmate of that name In Guernsey, long ago. BABY. It may be he. I know him, and, discoursing our affairs, Have heard him speak of you, but in a strain Peculiar to the past. BROCK. He had in youth. All goods belonging to the human heart, But fell away to Revolution's side-- Impulsive ever, and o'er prompt to see In kings but tyrants, and in laws but chains. I have not seen or heard of him for years. BABY. The very man! BROCK. 'Tis strange to find him here! ELLIOTT. He calls the red men freedom's last survival; Says truth is only found in Nature's growth-- Her first intention, ere false knowledge rose To frame distinctions, and exhaust the world. BROCK. Few find like him the substance of their dreams. But, Elliott, let us seek Tecumseh now. Stay, friends, till we return. [_Exeunt_ BROCK _and_ ELLIOTT.] GLEGG. How odd to find An old friend in this fashion! PROCTOR. Humph! a fool Who dotes on forest tramps and savages. Why, at the best, they are the worst of men; And this Tecumseh has so strained my temper, So over-stept my wishes, thrid my orders, That I would sooner ask the devil's aid Than such as his. NICHOL. Why, Brock is charmed with him! And, as you saw, at Amherstburg he put Most stress upon opinion when he spoke. MACDONELL. Already they've determined on assault. PROCTOR. Then most unwisely so! There are no bounds To this chief's rashness, and our General seem Swayed by it too, or rashness hath a twin. NICHOL. Well, rashness is the wind of enterprise, And blows its banners out. But here they come Who dig beneath their rashness for their reasons. _Re-enter_ GENERAL BROCK _and_ COLONEL ELLIOTT, _accompanied by_ TECUMSEH, _conversing_.