"She has been taken prisoner by the chief, Willimack," replied Floyd.
"Willimack is no friend of Tecumthè, although the Prophet loves him. You saw him, in the council-house at Vincennes, point his pistol at the breast of Tecumthè. He is a dog, and one day I will have him hung up in the center of the Shawnee village, because he is a traitor both to red and white men. Where has the Gray Hair gone?"
"The Dead Chief has taken him to his lodge. He will return soon."
A dark cloud passed over the face of the sachem as he heard the name of the great chief of the Pottawatomies. He hated him because he had denounced him to Harrison, and offered to do it in the face of the whole tribe.
"The Dead Chief is no friend to the white men," he said.
"You are wrong, Tecumseh. The chief is our firm friend, and says that because he is, you have ordered him to be slain."
Tecumseh did not deny this, but a look of terrible anger passed over his face, and his hand closed upon the hilt of his knife.
"We shall see whether the Dead Chief can make Tecumthè a dog," he said, savagely. "Then, listen: here above these dead men, I swear by the bones of my fathers that I had no part in their death, and that these are dogs who have slain them. Tecumthè has spoken."
"I believe yew, chief," said the Yankee, who had come up unobserved. "Yew are innercent, as fur as these murders are consarned. I believe my soul you mean fight, but yew'll fight fa'r, not murder wimmin and childern."
Tecumseh looked furtively at the Yankee, evidently studying him closely.