"My brother speaks well, his words are just; only it is not on the good faith of this mameluco that I reckon."
"On what then?" asked Tarou Niom.
"On his hatred first, and then—"
"Then?"
"On his avarice."
"Yes," replied the Guaycurus chief, "it is to these two feelings only that we must trust when we wish to ally ourselves with these faithless dogs; but this mameluco, is he not a Paulista?"
"No; on the contrary, he is a sertanejo."
"The whites are always bad. What guarantee has this Malco given?"
"The best that I can desire; his son, whom he charged with bringing me the message, has come into my village with two black slaves. One has gone away again, but the other remains with the child."
"Good!" answered Tarou Niom, "I acknowledge in this the prudence of my brother Emavidi-Chaime; if the father is a traitor, the child shall die."