"I am listening."
"Red Wolf is a renowned Chief. His name is cared by the Comanches, who fly before him like timid squaws. One day, at the head of his young men, Red Wolf entered an altopelt (village) of the Comanches. The Buffalo Comanches were hunting on the prairies; their warriors and young men were absent. Red Wolf burned the cabins, and carried off the women prisoners. Is that true?"
"It is true."
"Among the women was one for whom the heart of the Apache chief spoke. That woman was the Cihuatl of the sachem of the Buffalo Comanches. Red Wolf led her to his hut and treated her not as a prisoner, but as a well-beloved sister."
"What did the pale hunter?"
The Chief broke off and looked steadily at Marksman; but the latter did not move a feature.
"I wait till my brother answers me, in order to know with what he reproaches me," he said.
Red Wolf continued, with a certain degree of animation in his voice,—
"The pale hunter, abusing the friendship of the Chief, introduced himself into his village, under the pretext of visiting his red brother. As he was known and beloved by all, he traversed the village as he pleased, sauntered about everywhere, and when he had discovered Eglantine, he carried her off during a dark night, like a traitor and a coward."
At this insult, the hunter pressed the barrel of his rifle with a convulsive movement; but he immediately recovered his coolness.