The red men standing around uttered a low chorus of grunts and waited. Crawford looked up, met the lapis eyes of the Star Woman, found them wide with horrified comprehension.
“You understand?” he said gravely. “This fool thinks me coward enough to buy my life with you; yet he means to keep no promises. It is essential to his scheme that none of your warriors should remain alive to tell the Dacotah the truth—and he means to murder me as well, despite these promises.”
The Star Woman tried to speak, and the words died on her lips. Then, at the third attempt, she made hoarse response.
“But Metaminens! We must gain time—if I went out to meet this man——”
“You would be seized, your men would lose heart, and be slain. There is only one way in which we can gain time.”
Crawford touched his knife significantly, and a grunt of assent broke from the braves. Then all were silent, awaiting her response.
This was slow in coming. Despair swept the face of the girl, followed by a swift flush of anger; but this ebbed away instantly, and was succeeded by a deathly pallor. Now, beyond all evasion, the Star Woman perceived that she must abandon everything, that peace and temporizing were alike impossible, that there was but one issue. Crawford spoke again, since he dared not risk any misunderstanding in her mind.
“Maclish knows better than to trust himself among us. You can still win the whole game—at a price. Yield to his terms, go to his camp, put yourself at his mercy; and peace will follow. True, we others will be slain none the less—yet there will be peace until Perrot comes to take vengeance. Then what?”
To this bitter speech, Frontin added cool, sardonic words which bit far deeper than he could know.
“Madame, this affair is perfectly simple—it is as logical and dispassionate as a problem in geometry! Look you, now. Our only possible hope is in Sieur Perrot, is it not? Well, Perrot’s only possible hope is in us likewise! This Maclish will attack, and then what happens? With luck, we shall kill him; certainly, we shall do our best. Perhaps he will kill us. In any case, neither he nor we can win this game. But if we can hold out a little while, Perrot may yet find you alive. So the only one who can win this game is Perrot—voilà!”