"Pardieu!"
"The fact is we shall probably need them soon."
"Ah, ah! But," he added, checking himself, "I am chattering, and not noticing that you must be probably savagely hungry. Finish your meal, and we will talk afterwards."
"Oh! I can answer very well while eating."
"Wo! No, everything has its proper time. Finish your breakfast: we will listen to you afterwards."
When Louis had finished eating he described fully the way in which he had carried out his mission.
"All that is very good," Belhumeur said when he had ended his report. "I believe that we can henceforth feel assured about the safety of our countrymen, especially with the help of the forty peons, who will take the enemy between two fires."
"Yes, but where shall they be concealed?"
"Leave that to Eagle-head. The chief knows the country thoroughly, he has hunted in it for a long time. I am certain he will find a suitable place for the Mexicans. What do you say, chief?"
"It is easy to hide one's self in the prairie," the chief answered laconically.