“I will not consider it. It would be like trying to catch up the wind that blew last year. I do not care to argue here. Tell him to come to my house to-morrow and I will give him a night and a day to prove to me that he is not a foolish old man, chasing a will-o’-the-wisp.”
To this the chief replied: “Are there miracles only in the white man’s religion? I hear you believe there was once a great flood and all the people were drowned but a man and a woman, who took all the animals, male and female, into a big steamboat. When did this happen? How do you know it? Is the ghost dance more foolish? Are my people to be without a religion because it does not please the white man?”
To this the agent answered, impatiently: “I refuse to debate. I have orders to stop the dance, and these orders must be carried out. Tell him to come to the agency to-morrow and we will talk it out there. I can’t do it now.”
To my surprise, the chief pacifically responded: “I will come. My people are few and feeble, I do not wish to make trouble. Let us speak wisely in this matter. You are angry now and my people are excited. I will come and we will talk quietly together.”
But the faces of the old guard were dark, and Black Bull, who stood near, cried out, saying: “Let us alone. We will not give up the dance. We are afraid. Send the coyote away! Is The Sitting Bull afraid?”
This touched the chief to the quick, and he said, “I am not, but I do not desire trouble.”
My father spoke and said: “Do not go. The white man will imprison you if you do.”
Black Bull again shouted: “The white man is a liar! His tongue is double. He has set a trap. Will you walk into it?”
The chief turned to me. “Is this true? Have they talked of putting me in prison?”
I could not deny this, and while I sat in silence, seeking words which would not inflame him, Catch the Bear said: “I have heard that they have planned to kill you. Do not go to the agency.”