On the other hand, if he did not spread ruin over the Village of
Peace, the missionaries would soon get such a grasp on the tribes
that their hold would never be broken. He could not allow that, even
if he was forced to sacrifice the missionaries along with their
converts, for he saw in the growth of this religion his own
downfall. The border must be hostile to the whites, or it could no
longer be his home. To be sure, he had aided the British in the
Revolution, and could find a refuge among them; but this did not
suit him.
He became an outcast because of failure to win the military
promotion which he had so much coveted. He had failed among his own
people. He had won a great position in an alien race, and he loved
his power. To sway men--Indians, if not others--to his will; to
avenge himself for the fancied wrong done him; to be great, had been
his unrelenting purpose.
He knew he must sacrifice the Christians, or eventually lose his own
power. He had no false ideas about the converted Indians. He knew
they were innocent; that they were a thousand times better off than
the pagan Indians; that they had never harmed him, nor would they
ever do so; but if he allowed them to spread their religion there
was an end of Simon Girty.
His decision was characteristic of the man. He would sacrifice any
one, or all, to retain his supremacy.
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