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Altsheler, Joseph A. (Joseph Alexander), 1862-1919

"The Free Rangers A Story of the Early Days Along the Mississippi"

"You and the
other youth, Cotter, are educated, and you must realize the truth of what
I say. Yes, that force will come. Your Eastern colonies are about to be
defeated by the King of England. You are rebels, and there is no place for
defeated rebels but the depths of the wilderness. Spain has been
coquetting with these colonies, but she will come back to the side of the
English monarchy where she belongs. The monarchies must stand together
against all rebels."
"How do you know that Spain will help England to fight us?" asked Henry.
Alvarez smiled once more, but the smile now, instead of being merely
winning, was superior.
"It is a long distance from here to Europe," he replied, "but news may
come even into the depths of the woods. I have many friends in Spain,
friends near the court, who inform me whenever the wind changes."
Henry did not like that superior smile. It was a mistake of Francisco
Alvarez, a mistake that many strong men make, to assume a patronizing
manner even for a moment in the presence of another who was also strong.
Henry's intuition at once put him on guard at all points.
"I have heard," he said, "that Bernardo Galvez, the Spanish Governor
General at New Orleans, is no friend of the British power.


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