“There!” he cried. “The question! Who is Tawara? Who? Tell me! Ciccio is he—and I am he—and Max and Louis—” he spread his hand to the distant members of the tribe.
“I can’t be the bride of all four of you,” said Alvina, laughing.
“No—no! No—no! Such a thing does not come into my mind. But you are the Bride of Tawara. You dwell in the tent of Pacohuila. And comes the day, should it ever be so, there is no room for you in the tent of Pacohuila, then the lodge of Walgatchka the bear is open for you. Open, yes, wide open—” He spread his arms from his ample chest, at the end of the table. “Open, and when Allaye enters, it is the lodge of Allaye, Walgatchka is the bear that serves Allaye. By the law of the Pale Face, by the law of the Yenghees, by the law of the Fransayes, Walgatchka shall be husband-bear to Allaye, that day she lifts the door-curtain of his tent—”
He rolled his eyes and looked around. Alvina watched him.
“But I might be afraid of a husband-bear,” she said.
Geoffrey got on to his feet.
“By the Manitou,” he said, “the head of the bear Walgatchka is humble—” here Geoffrey bowed his head—“his teeth are as soft as lilies—” here he opened his mouth and put his finger on his small close teeth—“his hands are as soft as bees that stroke a flower—” here he spread his hands and went and suddenly flopped on his knees beside Alvina, showing his hands and his teeth still, and rolling his eyes. “Allaye can have no fear at all of the bear Walgatchka,” he said, looking up at her comically.
Ciccio, who had been watching and slightly grinning, here rose to his feet and took Geoffrey by the shoulder, pulling him up.
“Basta!” he said. “Tu es saoul. You are drunk, my Gigi. Get up. How are you going to ride to Mansfield, hein?—great beast.”
“Ciccio,” said Geoffrey solemnly. “I love thee, I love thee as a brother, and also more. I love thee as a brother, my Ciccio, as thou knowest. But—” and he puffed fiercely—“I am the slave of Allaye, I am the tame bear of Allaye.”