"Well, then, this is what you must do: as soon as you are certain that your guide has betrayed you, send your old mad doctor to me,—you can trust him, can you not?"
"Entirely!"
"Very well. Then, as I have said, you must send him to me, charging him only to say this to me. 'Black Elk'—I am Black Elk."
"I know you are; you told us so."
"That is right. He will say to me, 'Black Elk, the hour is come,' and nothing else. Shall you remember these words?"
"Perfectly. Only, I do not clearly understand how that can serve us."
The trapper smiled in a mysterious manner.
"Hum!" he said, after a short pause, "these few words will bring to you, in two hours, fifty men, the bravest in the prairies,—men who, at a signal from their leader, would allow themselves to be killed rather than leave you in the hands of those who will have possession of you, if what I expect should happen."
There was a moment of silence,—Doña Luz appeared very thoughtful.
The trapper smiled.