"Arnal is the brother of Dove's Eye; he has served her for father; wherever Arnal goes, Dove's Eye ought to follow him: it is her duty."
"Good, I thank Dove's Eye," said the chief.
"The place of a woman is where there are friends to love and serve."
"Dove's Eye remembers that she was, when an infant, received by the Guaycurus," said the Cougar.
"She remembers also," answered the young girl, with animation in her voice, "that she has been brought up by Arnal, the brother of Gueyma."
We must here make a short digression.
Tarou Niom, the principal captain of the Guaycurus, after a rather long absence, had one day arrived at the village of the warriors of his tribe, accompanied by Arnal and the Cougar. Arnal, although he was a man, and although he wore the costume and the arms of a warrior, carried, strange to say, an infant in his arms. This infant was his brother Gueyma, or, at least, this was what Tarou Niom said to those who made inquiries.
Things went on as usual for some years, when one day, on a return from an excursion which had been prolonged more than usual, the Cougar returned to the village, leading with him, or rather carrying in his arms, a charming little girl, two or three years old, whom he said he had found abandoned and dying from hunger, in a village which had been set on fire.
The little girl, so miraculously saved by the Cougar, had been adopted by Arnal, who had given her, on account of the mildness of her look, the characteristic name of Dove's Eye.
The two children had thus lived together, growing up in each other's company, so that their friendship had changed into love.