The father gave up the child passively, and Curtis called to Jennie:
"Here is a babe that is tired and hungry—be good to it."
"Where is the mother?" asked Jennie, as she tenderly received the little brown boy.
"She is coming," he said, and the mother galloped up in a few moments and fairly tumbled off her horse. "See!" Curtis said to her and to the father, "My sister will give the baby milk, and its mother shall also be fed. You need not fear; both will be taken care of. We are your friends."
Cut Finger watched Jennie as she carefully carried the baby into the house, and as he turned away, a look of apathetic misery, more moving than any cry, settled on his face.
Maynard, who had been standing in the door, said, in a tone of astonishment, "Did that wild Injun carry his papoose all the way down?"
"Yes, and was as tender of it as a woman, too."
"Well, I'll be hanged! There's a whole lot for me to learn about Injuns yet. Want a guard?"
"Yes; I think it safer. There is a good deal of sympathy for this poor chap."
"I don't blame 'em very much," said Maynard. "Take him right down to our guard-house, and I'll have Payne detail a squad of men to take care of him."