"Pardon me, and pray continue," Natah Otann said, with a bow.
"I will do so:" the Count went on: "I repeat it, it was not that barbarism which astonished me, for I supposed it to be greater than it really is: what seemed strange to me was to find in the heart of the desert, where we now are, amid the ferocious Indians who surround us, two men, two Chiefs of these self-same Indians—I will not say civilized, for the word is not strong enough—but utterly conversant with all the secrets of the most advanced and refined civilization, speaking my maternal tongue with the most extreme purity, and seeming, in a word, to have nothing Indian about them, save the dress they wear. It seemed strange to me that two men, for an object I know not, changing in turn their manners and fashions, are at one moment savage Indians, at another perfect gentlemen; but instead of trying to raise their countrymen from the barbarism in which they pine, they wallow in it with them, feigning to be as ignorant and cruel as themselves. I confess to you, gentlemen, that all this not only appeared strange to me, but even frightened me."
"Frightened!" the two Chiefs exclaimed, simultaneously.
"Yes, frightened!" the Count continued, quickly; "for a life of continual feints, such as you lead, must conceal some dark plot. Lastly, I am frightened, because your conduct towards me, the urgency with which you sought to attract me amongst you, causes involuntary suspicions to spring up in my heart as to your secret intentions."
"And what are those suspicions, sir?" Natah Otann asked, haughtily.
"I am afraid that you wish to make me your accomplice in some scandalous deed."
These words, pronounced vehemently, burst like a thunderbolt on the ears of the two strange Chiefs; they were terrified by the perspicuity of the young man, and for several moments knew not what to say, to disculpate themselves.
"Sir!" Natah Otann at length exclaimed, violently.
White Buffalo checked him by a majestic gesture.
"It is my duty," he said, "to reply to our guest's words: in his turn, after the frank and loyal explanation he has given us, he has a right to one equally frank on our side."