Accusing himself of having brought this trouble upon her, he resolved to endeavor to extricate her from her embarrassment and at the same time to make Wormley repent of the base part he was playing. At first he wished to kill the trader; but Dove-eye said his death would avail nothing, as long as Bull-tail was also possessed of the secret. He then suggested flight; but Dove-eye declared that she might as well die there, as to starve in the mountains, or to be captured by some other tribe.
At last he hit upon an idea that pleased him amazingly, and he burst into a laugh as it came into his mind. Bidding his mistress set her mind at rest, he hastened to carry out his plan.
Removing the earth from the grave in the ravine, he carried away the remains of the old medicine-man, and buried them in another spot. He then took up the body of an Indian who had been buried so long that his features could not be recognized, and laid it in the grave, filling in the earth so that it looked exactly as Wormley had left it.
Having finished his task, he hastened to Dove-eye, and told her what he had done.
Dove-eye was overjoyed. She praised the negro highly for the ready wit and invention by which he had extricated her from this pressing peril, and declared that the Snake might do his worst, as she was not afraid of him, and was able to turn the tables upon him whenever he should seek to harm her.
The trader, satisfied that he had Dove-eye in his power, lost no time in pressing his advantage. Cautioning Bull-tail to say nothing about the discovery that had been made, he sought an opportunity of speaking to Dove-eye privately. She did not avoid him, as she was by no means unwilling to have the affair brought “to a head.”
“Dove-eye will listen to me now,” he said. “She must listen to me, unless she is willing to die. I knew that I was right when I told her that she was deceiving her people; but I was not then able to prove my words. Now I have the proof, and Dove-eye is in my power. She must do as I wish her to do, or I will denounce her to the old men.”
“What will you do?” calmly asked Dove-eye. “You had better not tell the warriors that the Big Medicine has lied to them.”
“I will tell them that you have deceived them. I will tell them that the Big Medicine will never return from the spirit-land, that he is dead and in his grave.”
“It is easy for the Snake to tell lies.”