“Let ’em rise and be d--d! Who cares whether they rise or not?” Mr. Hibbs hesitated a moment and then went on. “We’ve just got news from General Hull. He’s crossed into Canada and scattered the redcoats and the red devils. We’ll have all Canada in a month. And if any of the Injuns anywhere try to make trouble we’ll shoot ’em. And if any white-livered curs from the east try to make trouble we’ll shoot them, too. Wolf was a d-- sight better man than you’ll ever be.” Jack threw his head back and his jaw stiffened. The insults that had been heaped upon him made his blood boil. But he remembered that Mr. Hibbs was an officer in the army of his country and, as such, entitled to respect. “Sir!” he said, almost gently. “I will not enter into comparisons or arguments. I have done what I thought was my duty. I am an American citizen and it is surely my duty, as it is yours, sir, to try to prevent friends from turning into foes----” “My duty!” Mr. Hibbs broke in with a roar. “You’ll teach me my duty, will you? By God! We’ll see.” He swung round. “Officer of the guard!” he trumpeted. “Sir!” An officer stepped forward. “Call two men and take this young cub to the calaboose and flog him well. We’ll teach him to meddle in matters that don’t concern him.” Flogging was common in those days. Privates in the army were flogged for all sorts of misdeeds. The crowd surged forward. Beyond question its sympathies were with Hibbs and against Jack. The note of savagery in its snarl would have frightened most men. It did not frighten Jack. His blue eyes gleamed with an anger that did not blaze--a frosty anger that froze those on whom it fell. “Just a moment,” he cried. “The first man that lays hand on me dies.” The crowd hesitated, clutching at pistols and knives. The moment was freighted with death. Then, abruptly, some one pushed a rifle--Williams’s rifle--into Jack’s hands and he heard Alagwa’s voice in his ear. “White chief kill!” she gritted. “Sing death song. I die with him.” On the other side Cato pressed forward. “I’se here, Mars’ Jack,” he quavered. “Cato’s here.” CHAPTER XI FOR a moment the crowd hung in the balance. Then Jack laughed. The ridiculous side of the quarrel had struck him. He turned to Alagwa. “Thank you, Bob, old chap,” he said, gratefully. “And you, too, Cato. I won’t forget. But I reckon we won’t have to kill anybody.” Still holding the rifle, he turned back to the throng. “Here’s your rifle, Williams,” he said, tossing the gun indifferently over. “Come, old man,” he called to Alagwa. “Come, Cato!” Without a backward glance he strode away. Silence almost complete followed his departure. Mr. Hibbs made no move to renew his order; he stood still and watched the party walk away. Plainly he was beginning to realize that he had gone too far.