"What else can they be?" the Indian warrior replied. "They are creeping like serpents through the high grass, with their guns before them, and their scalping knives in their teeth. Chief, we are betrayed; these men have been sent among us to lull our vigilance to sleep."
Eagle Head and Loyal Heart exchanged a glance of an undefinable expression, and which was an enigma for all but themselves.
The Comanche chief turned towards the Indian.
"Did you see," he said, "who marched at the head of the hunters?"
"Yes, I saw him."
"Was it Amick (Black Elk), the principal guardian of Loyal Heart's traps?"
"Who else could it be?"
"Very well! Retire," said the warrior, dismissing the messenger with a nod of the head; then, addressing the hunter, he asked,
"What is to be done?"
"Nothing," Loyal Heart replied, "this concerns me, my brother must leave me to act alone."