"Hum!" said the Toqui with a bitter smile; "these are hard conditions. If I should on my part refuse to ratify this shameful peace?"
"But my father will not refuse," the Lynx suggested.
"But I do refuse!" he replied, loudly.
"Good! my father will reflect; it is impossible that can be his last word."
Antinahuel, cunning as he was, had no suspicion of the snare that was laid for him.
"I repeat to you. Lynx," he said, in a loud voice, "and to all the chiefs who surround me, that I refuse to ratify these dishonourable conditions. So, now you can return whence you came."
"Not yet!" said the Lynx, in his turn, as sharply as the Toqui. "I have not finished yet!"
"What else have you to tell me?"
"The council, which is composed of the wise men of all the tribes, has foreseen the refusal of my father."
"Ah!" Antinahuel cried. "What have they decreed in consequence?"