The French, under such men as La Salle, had pushed their trading posts westward to the great lakes and beyond the Missouri, and north to the shores of Hudson's Bay.

They traded and fought and revelled, hot with the spirit of adventure, the best of pioneers and the worst of colonists.

Tardily, upon their trail, came the English and the Dutch, slow to acquire but strong to hold; not so rash in adventure, nor so adroit in intrigue, as fond of fighting, but with less of the gift of the woods, and much more the faculty for government.
There was little interchange of friendliness and trade between the rival colonists; and Frenchmen were as rare on Manhattan Island as Englishmen on the heights of Quebec--except as prisoners.
G.P.
THE TRAIL OF THE SWORD EPOCH THE FIRST I.AN ENVOY EXTRAORDINARY II.

THE THREAT OF A RENEGADE III.

THE FACE AT THE WINDOW IV.