Benning laid such an emphasis on the word “friend,” that Flora noticed it.
“Mr. Wilder saved me from the Blackfeet,” she said. “He came here to save me from the Arapahoes, and was badly wounded in the attempt, so that he is unable to move. Do you think I could desert him? There is another matter to be considered. My father’s scalp is in the Arapaho village, and it is of the greatest importance to me that it be recovered from them. If you wish really to serve me, can you not get possession of that relic?”
“God knows that I wish to serve you! The Crows are eager to fight, and will be glad of the opportunity; but there will be a battle, and I feared that you might be carried away during the struggle.”
“There need be little or no danger. I have a plan, of which I think both you and White Shield will approve.”
Flora then told her companions of the scene that was to be acted next morning, at the lodge on the cliff. She accurately described the situation and surroundings of the lodge, showing that there would be an excellent opportunity to lay an ambuscade, by which the Arapaho warriors could be attacked and routed as they left the lodge of the medicine-man. The victory would be an easy one, she thought, as the Arapahoes, being surprised and mostly unarmed, would be readily dispersed. Benning and his friends once in possession of the village, they might recover the gray scalp, and might at their leisure remove Wilder and herself, with Dove-eye, if she would accompany them.
Benning had listened with surprise when Flora spoke of her father’s scalp, and remembered the anxiety which Martin Laurie expressed to obtain possession of that trophy. He fell in with her views the more readily, as she had given him some clue to the strange conduct of the Scotchman. He highly approved of her plan, and thought that there could be no possible difficulty in carrying it out.
White Shield also pricked up his ears when the gray scalp was mentioned. He was rejoiced to hear that Silverspur, although badly wounded, was alive and likely to live; but he was still puzzled concerning the scalp.
“The Arapahoes told me,” said he, “that they were dancing over the scalp of Silverspur; but I knew they did not speak the truth.”
Flora was obliged to tell him how her father’s scalp had been brought from the Blackfoot village, and how it had saved the life of his friend. White Shield expressed his approval gutturally. If he had been a Yankee, he would have whistled; as he was an Indian, he grunted most emphatically.
It was necessary for Flora to hasten back to the lodge, lest she should be missed. Assuring her friends that she would pray for their success, she ran away to tell the news to Fred Wilder.