You see a man with a white
head, and no woman, Teton; therefore shall I not run myself out of
breath, to tell the nations of the prairies what the Siouxes are
doing."
"It is good. My father has smoked with the chiefs at many councils,"
returned Mahtoree, who now thought himself sufficiently sure of the
other's favour to go more directly to his object. "Mahtoree will speak
with the tongue of his very dear friend and father. A young Pale-face
will listen when an old man of that nation opens his mouth. Go; my
father will make what a poor Indian says fit for a white ear."
"Speak aloud!" said the trapper, who readily understood the
metaphorical manner, in which the Teton expressed a desire that he
should become an interpreter of his words into the English language;
"speak, my young men listen. Now, captain, and you too, friend bee-
hunter, prepare yourselves to meet the deviltries of this savage, with
the stout hearts of white warriors. If you find yourselves giving way
under his threats, just turn your eyes on that noble-looking Pawnee,
whose time is measured with a hand as niggardly, as that with which a
trader in the towns gives forth the fruits of the Lord, inch by inch,
in order to satisfy his covetousness.
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