"Nay, do not swear," cautioned Moroni. "Teancum, you have been given the command of the division that moves against the Lamanites tomorrow. Fight with the genius and tenacity you displayed on the narrow neck of land. For the rest I trust you implicitly. Now I would be alone."
* * * * * * * *
Amalickiah marched toward the land Bountiful driving the Nephites before him. On the last day he had been much harassed by the archers of Teancum that skirted the woods. When they reached the seashore they met the forces of Teancum drawn up in martial array. A pitched battle ensued in which the Nephites had the advantage over the footsore Lamanites who had been marching and fighting for many days, while their opponents were fresh. With nightfall hostilities ceased. "If Amalickiah were dead, there would be no more war; the snake cannot strike without its head," cogitated the Nephite.
Teancum sat in his tent and by the sputtering flame of a pine torch, was engaged in coloring his skin brown by rubbing it with the juice of a wood berry. His servant, who had already gone through the same performance, and was a Lamanite to all appearances, was sorting over rather gingerly, a pile of women's apparel.
"You are hard to please. Does nothing there suit you?" asked Teancum, with mocking irony.
"Nay, there are so many, I know not which to choose," replied the other in the same spirit.
"It need not be overly becoming in the dark. Let me warn you to make your skirts short, for you may have to run." So daring hearts make light of the gravest dangers.
The man servant replied with a vicious wrench as he got into the woman's garb.
Teancum surveyed him and laughed. "My word, you make a charming wench. Half the men in the Lamanite camp will try to flirt with you, and so defeat our adventure. Pull your scarf down more over your face, so."
The other grinned, displaying a mouth unfeminine in width. But he looked sober when Teancum handed him a battle axe with the remark, "If I fail, you may have an opportunity to finish it," Teancum himself tucked a double-edged dagger into his belt and took down his javelin. He then enveloped himself in a blanket.