294 OCEAN TO OCEAN ON HORSEBACK. 



room of tlie commandaDt, she told him the terrible 

 secret. 



Pontiac was to come to the fort on the morrow 

 ostensibly to hold peaceful negotiations with his white 

 brothers, but really to massacre them. His warriors, 

 who had cunningly shortened their rifles by sawing off 

 a part of the barrels, so that they might carry them 

 concealed beneath their blankets, were to fall upon 

 Gladwyn and his men at a given signal. This news 

 was lightly received although the statements of the 

 Indian girl seemed to be verified by a slight thread of 

 evidence which had from time to time been brought 

 to Gladwyn's notice. He laughed at the thought of 

 danger at such a time, when the peace which had 

 lasted for two years appeared so likely to continue ; but 

 while he doubted Pontiac's real intentions, he decided 

 to be prepared for any issue. The guards were 

 doubled, sentinels were stationed on the ramparts, and 

 when the great chief came in the guise of friendship, 

 he was completely nonplussed by the show of discipline 

 in the garrison. Entering the north gate with his 

 sixty blanketed conspirators, he found himself con- 

 fronted by a double line of red-coated soldiers, their 

 muskets held at " present arms." At the corners of 

 the streets were groups of fur traders, and at regular 

 intervals the silence was broken by the beating of 

 drums. 



Surprised at every turn, and fearing that his plot 

 had been discovered, Pontiac walked on sullenly en- 

 deavoring to conceal his annoyance. When he reached 

 the council-house he said to Gladwyn, '' Why do I 

 see so many of my father's young men standing in the 

 streets with their guns?" The commandant lightly 



