"Come here," said Nahnya coolly. "Hold up your hands."
The half-breed obeyed, his eyes fixed ardently on Nahnya.
"See if he have a gun," Nahnya said to Ralph.
Philippe scowled furiously at the indignity, but kept his hands up. Ralph quickly satisfied himself that the other was unarmed.
"Good!" said Nahnya, with an inscrutable face. She offered Philippe her hand. "We will be friends. Let us sit down and talk what to do."
"Nahnya!" cried Ralph jealously.
She bent the same towering look on him that had crushed the half-breed. "Must I ask you when I make a friend?" she said.
Ralph, forced to remember that he had brought all this trouble upon her, hung his head. They sat down to their council of war. There could be no question of who was the leader. The dark girl had the bearing of a queen who had risen above her human griefs and passions.
"Where are they waiting?" she asked.
"They camp at the edge of the big woods beside the gulch," said Philippe. "Jim Sholto is with them."