Hugh walked slowly back toward their camp, the two boys following him, half awed and whispering to each other; for both were astonished at what seemed to be a new phase of Hugh’s character.
Hugh did not stop at the tent, but remarked that he was going out to look at the horses, and the two boys sat down by the fire.
“I tell you, Joe,” said Jack, “wasn’t it wonderful to see Hugh walk up to that man with the pistol and take it from him?”
“Sure,” said Joe, “it was fine, but then White Bull is not afraid of anything. That’s what people have said about him ever since I can remember.”
“And wasn’t it fine to see him take that big man and squeeze him until he yelled? I should have laughed myself to death if I hadn’t been so scared,” said Jack.
“Yes,” said Joe, “he must be powerful strong. I should have thought that that man could have eaten White Bull up in a minute. He must be powerful strong; I should hate to have him get angry with me.”
“That’s the wonderful thing about Hugh,” Jack went on, “that he makes people do whatever he wants ’em to. Of course, we do what he tells us to, because we know that he knows what’s right, but he makes other people do what he tells them. Of course, he doesn’t order them to do things, but he’ll say it would be a good idea to do something, and then he’ll talk for a few minutes and then presently the people will go off and do just what he wants.”
“That’s so,” said Joe, “I’ve seen that, too. I’ve seen him talk sometimes in a council of old men. Maybe they all think that something was the best thing to do, and then White Bull would get up and say that it seemed to him that something different ought to be done, and he’d talk a little while and presently one after another would stand up and say that he thought that White Bull was right; and then they’d all do just what he said.”
“Yes,” said Jack, “he’s a great man, and I believe if he’d lived back East, he would have been a mighty big man among the white people.”
“Well,” said Joe, “if he lived in an Indian camp, he could be the chief any time he wanted to.”