The
trapper trembled for the honour of his friend; and Hector, as if
conscious of what was passing, raised his nose into the air, and
uttered a piteous howl.
But the Pawnee hesitated, only for that moment. Raising the other
hand, like lightning, the tomahawk flashed in the air, and Weucha sunk
to his feet, brained to the eye. Then cutting a way with the bloody
weapon, he darted through the opening, left by the frightened women,
and seemed to descend the declivity at a single bound.
Had a bolt from Heaven fallen in the midst of the Teton band it would
not have occasioned greater consternation, than this act of desperate
hardihood. A shrill plaintive cry burst from the lips of all the
women, and there was a moment, that even the oldest warriors appeared
to have lost their faculties. This stupor endured only for the
instant. It was succeeded by a yell of revenge, that burst from a
hundred throats, while as many warriors started forward at the cry,
bent on the most bloody retribution. But a powerful and authoritative
call from Mahtoree arrested every foot.
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