"I will be brief. There is not a man on the prairies who has not a terrible account to settle with that vile bandit?"
"That is true."
"The monster has burdened the earth too long—he must disappear."
Bloodson uttered these words with such an accent of hatred, that all present, although they were men endowed with nerves of steel, felt a shudder course through their veins. Valentine looked sternly at the ranger.
"You owe this man a heavy grudge?" he said.
"Greater than I can express."
"Good, go on."
At this moment Father Seraphin entered the lodge, but was not noticed, so greatly was the attention of the audience concentrated on Bloodson. The missionary stood motionless in the darkest corner, and listened.
"This is what I propose," Bloodson went on. "I will reveal to you where the villain is lurking; we will spread so as to envelope him in an impassable circle, and if you or the chiefs here present are luckier than I, and seize him, you will deliver him into my hands."
"What to do with him?"