The Tuscaroras are bad enough in themselves,
but the worst part is that all the back country in the hills belongs to
their cousins the Cherokees, and God knows how far north their sway
holds. The Long House of the Iroquois controls everything west of the
coast land from Carolina away up through Virginia to New York and the
Canadas. That means that Virginia has on two sides the most powerful
tribes of savages in the world, and if ever the Iroquois found a
general and made a common attack things would go ill with the
Tidewater. I tell you that so that you can understand Lawrence's
doings. He hates the Iroquois like hell, and so he likes their enemies.
He has lived for fifteen years among the Sioux, whiles with the
Catawbas, whiles with the Manahoacs, but mostly with the Monacans. We
of the Free Companions see him pretty often, and bring him the news and
little comforts, like good tobacco and _eau de vie_, that he cannot get
among savages. And we carry messages between him and the Tidewater, for
he has many friends still alive there. There's no man ever had his
knowledge of Indians, and I'm taking you to him, for he has something
to tell you."
By this time we had come to a place where a fair-sized burn issued from
a shallow glen in the savannah.
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