"Tecumseh is a fool," replied the Dead Chief. "He does not know that the sun warms him and the moon gives him light. Why should we change masters? The white men will always rule the Indians, because they are wiser than we. Why do you stop the Dead Chief on his way?"
"The Dead Chief will be dead in half an hour," replied the Prophet. "He knows too much of Tecumseh and his plans."
"Let me free, and I will go into the camp of Tecumseh and beard him. Did he dare to give you orders to take the life of the Dead Chief?"
"You shall see. Stay here, Willimack, while I call some warriors to see the death of a dog who cares not for his race."
"Wait," said Willimack. "If the Dead Chief is to die, we must build no fire, for that would show the young war-chief and the yellow-haired scout that the Shawnees and Wyandots are on the trail."
"Good. The Dead Chief shall not die yet, for I have sworn he shall perish by fire, and so he shall die. Elskwatawa has spoken. Let us leave the Dead Chief here and look for the young war-chief and the Yellow Hair, and we'll burn them all at one fire."
The two Indians glided away, and as they went, the Dead Chief began to struggle furiously with his bonds, but they were too strongly tied to break easily. In spite of his efforts he remained bound to the tree, still making impotent efforts. His face did not express fear so much as anger and humiliation at having been outwitted by the men he affected to despise. The moment the two captors were gone, Floyd slipped out of his concealment and approached the Pottawatomie.
"Ugh," said the Dead Chief. "My brother sees a friend tied up like a dog. Let him loose the bonds upon his hands and feet."
The young man obeyed, and the warrior rubbed his excoriated limbs to restore the circulation, muttering to himself. Then he searched about in the moonlight, and carefully covered the trail which the young soldier had made in coming from the canoe.
"Let the war-chief do as the Dead Chief shows him, and leave no trail," he said. Grasping the limb of the tree overhead, after strapping his rifle to his back, he swung himself back and forth until he had gained sufficient momentum, when he released his grasp and dropped over the bank into the water in a place where it was not more than two feet deep. Floyd followed his example, and then the Indian waded to the place where he had left his canoe and drew it from the bank into the stream, and pushed off a few yards until he could look up and down the stream for some distance. Satisfying himself that none of the Indians were in sight, he pushed in again.