To these questions the Chilcat deigned no reply until he felt the sharp point of steel pressing his side right over his heart. He then gave a struggle, and attempted to rise.
"None of that," Natsatt ordered. "Try it again and I'll drive this knife into your measly carcass up to the hilt. Tell me, did the chief's daughter go to the Chilcat camp of her own free will?"
"Ah, ah," the native replied.
"And did she go to become the wife of the Chilcat chief's son?"
"Ah, ah."
"What did she do that for? Why did she leave her own people to go there? Did not the Chilcats kill her mother? Has she forgotten that?"
"The Ayana squaw wished to save her people and the white traders."
"In what way?" Natsatt queried, while a faint light of comprehension began to glimmer in his mind.
"The chief's son promised to go back to the coast at once if Klitonda's daughter would be his wife," was the reply.
"Whew! I see," broke from the half-breed's lips. "So that's it, is it? And will the chief's son go away now? Will he leave the white traders and the Ayana people alone?"