The Shelton brothers acted the part of listeners, sensibly feeling that they could contribute nothing to the discussion between Mul-tal-la and Deerfoot; but no speakers could have asked for more deeply interested auditors than they.
"Taggarak has not come back," said the Blackfoot. "Mul-tal-la stopped at his lodge, and his squaw said she had seen naught of him since this morning."
"She does not know what took place?" was the inquiring remark of Deerfoot.
"She could not, for he kept his word and told no one before, and," grimly added the Blackfoot, "he would not tell anyone afterward."
"What does she think?"
"That he has gone to one of the other villages. Taggarak is a silent man, and he sometimes departs in the middle of the night, without saying a word to anyone. He may be gone for weeks, and no one here will know anything of it until he returns."
"What does Mul-tal-la think?"
"He knows not what to think. If Taggarak is not here to-morrow, then he will believe the chief is visiting his other warriors."
"Does he not summon his other chiefs to come to him?"
"Often; they meet at the Big Lodge. They talk together, when they are making ready to go on raids among other tribes, and Taggarak gives them his commands; but he likes to appear in their villages when they do not look for his coming. What does my brother believe the chief will do when he comes back?"