"Away! I am here to die among you. My tongue burns, but I did not come here to drink. I came here to die. The white man killed my father, and I have come back with the avengers, and we have brought with us the Judgment Day." He stood and listened to the cries of distress.
"Hear the trees cry for help—all the birds of the prairie—but they cry for naught. My father hears them cry. The cry is sweet to his ears. He is waiting for me. We are all about to die. When the wheat-fields blaze and the stacks take fire, and the houses crackle, then we shall all die. So says Waubeno." He listened again.
"Hear the earth cry—all the animals. My father hears—his soul hears. This is the day that I have carried in my soul. My spirit is in the fire."
He listened again. The prairie roared with the hot air, the flames, and the clouds of smoke. There fell another rain of fire, and women shrieked for mercy, and children cried on their mothers' breasts.
"Hear the people cry! I have waited for that cry for a hundred moons. I have paid my vow. We have kindled the fire of the anger of the heavens—it is coming. I will die with you like the son of a warrior. The souls of the warriors are gathering to see me die. I am Waubeno."
The people pressed upon him, and glared at him.
"He set the fire!" they cried. "The Indian fiend!"
"I set the fire," he said; "I and Black Hawk's men. They have escaped. I have done my work, and I want to die."
Jasper lifted his hat, and with bared head stood forth in the view of the Indian.
"Waubeno, do you want to see me die?"