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Show Page 241 Our food is now reduced to a ration of peas, water-gruel and a small portion of bread. Though he is now able to move about more easily, John fares poorly. He needs good, hearty food to grow well once again. I must seek out Lieutenant Parkinson, for we must be rid of this loathsome peninsula. My only happy thought is that should John die, he will die a free man, only this month having ended his indenture to Richard Martin. ******************** To mask the stench of the dead and dying, I held a handkerchief to my face as I returned from the home of Captain Powell, where Lieutenant Parkinson was staying. Yet I smiled behind the handkerchief, for the man had agreed that John and I might return with him to Martin's Hundred. I was nearing the church when loud shouting was heard at the gate, and I turned to see what was happening. From the scattered words echoing about the fort, I soon realized two Indians were approaching under a banner of truce. When I saw the natives-the first I had seen close by since that bloody day in March-my stomach went a-churn and my skin prickled, my hair standing away from my body. Then I saw one of the Indians full-face and I felt a faintness clutch at me and my |