[CHAPTER X.]
BEFORE THE ATTACK.
At the first cry of the maukawis—that is to say, at sunrise—the adventurers awoke.
The night had been calm. They had slept with nothing to disturb their rest. Iced, however, by the abundant dew which had filtered through their blankets during their sleep, they hurriedly rose to restore the circulation of their blood and warm their stiffened limbs.
At the first movement Don Martial made a knife fell down on the ground. The Mexican picked it up, and uttered a cry of amazement and almost of terror as he showed it to his companions. The arm so unexpectedly found was a scalping knife, whose blade was still stained with large bloody spots.
"What is the meaning of this?" he asked, brandishing the knife angrily.
Eagle-head seized it, and examined it carefully.
"Wah!" he said in surprise, "the Black Bear has been with us during our sleep."
The hunters could not refrain from a movement of alarm.
"It is impossible," Belhumeur observed.