"'Tis true," I assented eagerly. "With him to aid us we could stampede the herd."
"But why talk of such things when we are helpless?" was Tawannears' gloomy comment.
"We are not helpless," interrupted Kachina.
She rolled herself over and over until she lay on her stomach close to Tawannears.
"The warrior who bound my wrists did not tie them so tight as yours," she explained. "I smiled at him, and I think he means to ask the Comanche chief to let him take me into his teepee—the ant! If he did I would kill him with his own knife. If your teeth are sharp as mine you can gnaw the knots loose. Then I will free the rest of you."
And as Tawannears hesitated in bewilderment at her suggestion, she continued:
"Hurry! The eagles are singing of victory in the sky. They say we shall defy the Comanche."
"Yes, yes," I pleaded. "Make haste, brother. The herd-guards may come again."
So Tawannears rolled himself into a position where he could bring his strong teeth—the teeth of a barbarian, exempt from white man's ills—to bear upon the girl's knotted wrists, triced in the small of her back just above the hips. And whilst he labored at the tough hide thongs, Peter and I kept watch for the return of the adolescent. Had he come we planned to give warning, and Kachina and Tawannears would have resumed their customary attitudes but we saw no more of him. I think he and his friends were taking turns sneaking into the village to listen outside the Council teepee to the debate of the warriors on our fate, and this meant more work for those watching the grazing horses. For twice I heard the distant whinny of Sunkawakan-kedeshka, evidently challenging my attention, and I suspect it required one boy's vigilance to restrict his wanderings, alone.
Time dragged slowly, and the Seneca's lips became slippery with blood from his torn gums. I took his place, and when I was worn out, Peter's heavy jaws assumed the burden. 'Twas he wrenched the last knot loose; but several moments passed before Kachina was able to restore the circulation in her hands. Then she unbound her ankles, and without waiting to rub her feet back to life, fell to upon our lashings. In ten minutes we were all four free, crawling—we could not have walked had we tried—toward the herd.