"Who are you?" he demanded in the tone of one who holds power, speaking in the same mingled dialect of Comanche and Dakota he had used with the Tonkawas.
The chief on the white horse was manifestly amazed at Tawannears' assurance, but he replied quietly in the same tongue:
"They say I am Awa, war-chief of the Chahiksichahiks.* Who are you who walk on the ground with white men?"
* Men-of-men, the real name of the Pawnee, the latter name, meaning Horn-wearers, being their designation by other tribes.
"They call me Tawannears, warden of the Western Door of the Long House, war-chief of the Hodenosaunee," Tawannears shot back.
"Tawannears is many moons' journey from his teepee," rejoined Awa. "He did not come to our village and ask permission to cross our country."
"Why should a chief of the Long House ask permission to go on the Great Spirit's business?" returned Tawannears. "We have done your people no harm."
"If that is so," said the chief on the white horse, "render up to my people the maiden who is with you, and you may go free."
"Why?" asked Tawannears, bewildered.
"Every Summer Tirawa, the Old One in the Sky, sends my people a maid for a sacrifice. They say the maid with you comes to die on the scaffold under the morning star."