"I have often seen him; he is very aged now; his beard and hair are white; he is tall and majestic; his face is fine, his look profound; there is something about him grand and imposing, which attracts you against your will. Grizzly Bear holds him in great veneration, and obeys him as if he were his son."
"Who can this man be?"
"No one knows. I am convinced that the Grizzly Bear shares the general ignorance on this head."
"But how did he join the tribe?"
"It is not known."
"He must have been long with it."
"I told you so; he educated the Grizzly Bear, and made a European of him instead of an Indian."
"All that is really strange," the Count murmured, having suddenly grown pensive.
"Is it not so? But that is not all yet; you are entering a world you do not know, accident throws you among interests you are unacquainted with; take care; weigh well your words, calculate your slightest gesture, Mr. Edward; for the Indians are very clever; the man you have to deal with is cleverer than all of them, as he combines with Redskin craft that European intelligence and corruption with which his teacher has inculcated him. Natah Otann is a man with an incalculable depth of calculation; his thoughts are an abyss; he must be revolving sinister schemes; take care; his pressing you to promise a visit to his village; his generosity to the American squatter, the secret protection with which he surrounds you, while being the first to pretend to take you for a superior being; all this makes me believe that he wishes to lead you unconsciously into some dark enterprise, which will prove your destruction. Believe me, Mr. Edward, beware of this man."
"Thanks, my friend, I will watch," the Count said, pressing the Canadian's honest hand.