His arrows
would fly backwards; the point of his lance would be on the wrong end;
their friends would weep at every whoop he gave; their enemies would
laugh. Do the Tetons know a Loup? Let them look at him again. His head
is painted; his arm is flesh; his heart is rock. When the Tetons see
the sun come from the Rocky Mountains, and move towards the land of
the Pale-faces, the mind of Hard-Heart will soften, and his spirit
will become Sioux. Until that day, he will live and die a Pawnee."
A yell of delight, in which admiration and ferocity were strangely
mingled, interrupted the speaker, and but too clearly announced the
character of his fate. The captive awaited a moment, for the commotion
to subside, and then turning again to Le Balafre, he continued, in
tones conciliating and kind, as if he felt the propriety of softening
his refusal, in a manner not to wound the pride of one who would so
gladly be his benefactor--
"Let my father lean heavier on the fawn of the Dahcotahs," he said:
"she is weak now, but as her lodge fills with young, she will be
stronger.
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