“What! the white devil? ugh! Ke-ne-ha-ha’s heart is like rock. He does not fear.”
“Then the chief will meet and fight the Wolf Demon?” asked the Great Medicine.
“Yes, if the Wolf Demon comes, the chief will fight him. Many great warriors have fallen by the tomahawk of the Wolf Demon. He is a coward. He does not attack the Shawnee braves like a warrior and a man. He creeps behind them in the forest like a cat and strikes them in the back. He will not dare to meet Ke-ne-ha-ha, face to face.”
“See, the green stick is burning,” and the Medicine Man looked toward the fire as he spoke. “When it is ashes, the chief will stand face to face with the Wolf Demon. He will tremble like a squaw when he sees the white man’s devil.”
“The Great Medicine is wise, but he lies when he says that Ke-ne-ha-ha will tremble!” cried the Shawnee chief, anger sparkling in his eyes. “The great fighting-man of the Shawnee nation never turned his back to mortal foe, either red or white-skinned warrior. Why should he fear the devil that hides in the wood, and who, like a coward, strikes his foes in the back?” And Ke-ne-ha-ha drew himself up proudly, as he spoke.
“The chief has the heart of a lion; it is a pity that he should die like the snake,” said the old Indian, slowly.
“When the chief dies it will be upon the war-path!” exclaimed the Shawnee brave, in defiance; “a hundred scalps will hang at his belt—his hand will be red with the blood of his foe. When he enters the happy hunting-grounds, the chiefs will bow in homage, to him, and say, ‘Here is a great warrior; welcome.’”
“The chief is wrong,” said the Great Medicine, slowly; “he will not die on the war-path. The Great Medicine sees the future. It is clouded to all other eyes but his. His heart is Shawnee—it is torn with anguish when he reads the future and sees the desolation and dismay that must come upon the Shawnee nation. Before his eyes is a sea of blood, not white blood but red, the blood of the Indian.”
Over the brow of the chief came a gloomy cloud as he listened to the prophetic words of the old man.
His heart sunk within him as he heard the prophecy of disaster and death.