"If they are friends of the Mazzonka who bewitched my young men they shall go away from here," snapped Nadoweiswe, "or I will take their scalps for my new medicine lance."
"What was this white man like?" inquired Tawannears.
"He was tall, and he wore a long black robe that reached his moccasins. My young men found him on the prairie, and they galloped up to take him captive. But he drew a weapon from his belt and shook it at them, and a great fear possessed them. There was strong medicine in that weapon. It did not make a loud noise like that." He pointed to my pun. "Nor did he strike with it. He did no more than hold it toward them, calling something the while in a loud voice, and their hearts turned to water, and they fled."
"What was the appearance of the weapon?" pressed Tawannears.
The Adder crossed two fingers, and Tawannears laughed, repeating the conversation to us.
"It was Black Robe!" I exclaimed.
"Ja," assented Corlaer.
Tawannears turned back to the Teton chief, whose eyes had never left our faces during this interval.
"Yes, Nadoweiswe," he said, "Tawannears and his white friends know the white man you speak of. He is our enemy."
"Hai," cried The Adder, "is it him you seek!"