"At this—since you have made, in our name, peace with the Indians, it could be so managed that they——"
"By Heavens! you are right, Black Elk," Loyal Heart interrupted him, eagerly. "I did not think of that. The Indian warriors will be delighted at the opportunity we shall offer them of showing their valour. They will joyfully assist us in our expedition. I take upon myself to persuade them. Follow me, all of you. I will present you to my new friends."
The trappers drew together, and formed a compact band of forty men.
Arms were reversed, in sign of peace, and all, following the steps of the hunter, directed their course towards the camp of the Comanches.
"And my mother?" Loyal Heart asked Eusebio, with a broken voice.
"She is in safety in the hatto of Black Elk."
"And how is she?"
"As well as you could expect, though suffering from great uneasiness," the old man replied. "Your mother is a woman who only lives by the heart. She is endowed with immense courage, the greatest physical pains glide over her. She now feels but slightly the effects of the atrocious tortures she had begun to undergo."
"God be praised! But she must no longer be left in these mortal doubts; where is your horse?"
"Hidden, close by."