“She will not betray them, as Gi-en-gwa-tah has done!” replied the woman.
“Gi-en-gwa-tah did that which was right; he does not need to be taught by a woman.”
“But he shall die by a woman’s hand!” she cried. “His death-shrieks will be sweet in his son’s ears!”
“He can die with a war-cry on his lips that his son shall remember,” he answered, proudly; “but his time is not yet; his people now, more than ever, need his counsel.”
“Gi-en-gwa-tah’s power is like a broken reed,” she said; “Mahaska rules the Senecas and soon shall rule the Six Nations, for it is the prophet’s will. She tells him that he shall die and he shall!”
“Would the queen murder the father of her child?”
“Mahaska’s child is the gift of the Great Spirit!” she exclaimed; “he has no other father.”
“Mahaska speaks lies! She is false as an adder!”
“And her bite is more deadly. The chief shall feel it soon!”
“He does not fear! Let the band hasten on; Mahaska shall see how her people will receive her.”