But had she thought of the risks he must undergo? She was asking him to face almost certain death, at a time when her own people had deserted her, on the slight justification of their friendship. It was plain that she had thought of all this and in spite of them had not hesitated.
"I will always hold you as a friend—in time of need, especially, a friend."
There, in Sleeping Thunder's words, was the whole substance of the matter.
This was a time of need.
Hector did not waste an instant in considering the risks. He accepted them, in the spirit in which soldiers accept the perils of battle, as inevitable.
"These people—God knows why—" he thought, "rely on me more than on anyone else in the world."
"I will come—at once," he said.
Moon dropped on her knees at his feet and burst into tears.
II
On a fine spring evening, Sleeping Thunder sat with Hector outside the teepee.