“Come. I will show you.”
Taking him by the hand, she led him into the Prophet’s hut.
Like one in a trance, Douglas stood staring at the closed door. He was dazed—thunderstruck.
“Am I mad or dreaming?” he muttered to himself. “Who is she—what is she? So young—so beautiful! I thought her a helpless captive; I find her the power behind the throne. All is mystery—chaos. Bradford’s an impenetrable sphinx, but she—she’s an inexplicable riddle. She’s no ignorant savage; she’s an intelligent, educated white woman. What then? She’s not Tenskwatawa’s daughter—that’s plain. But who is she? What does she among the Indians? Bradford, even, bends to her will. She regards the savages as her people; she’s hand and glove with the English. Evidently she hates all Americans. And she didn’t deign to notice me”—with a sigh—“who saved her life. So graceful—so charming; but mystery of mysteries! She has forgotten her promise to me—ah!”
He cut short his whispered soliloquy and quickly glanced around him. In little groups and knots, the braves were talking and gesticulating. Down by the creek, half-naked children were paddling in the icy water and shouting and laughing. Three squaws, bearing bundles of fagots with which to replenish the camp-fires, passed the spot where the young man was standing. One of the trio—a bent and wrinkled hag—revealed her toothless gums, in a sardonic grin, and, pointing to Duke, cackled hoarsely, in the Delaware language:
“See! See the dog. He is big and fat. The sight of him makes my mouth water. What a stew he would make! Why has he not been killed?”
“Come on,” chuckled one of her younger companions. “The dog belongs to Fleet Foot. Do you not see him standing there? I know him—he used to buy furs of my father. But he is Scar Face’s prisoner now. Come on! To-night the dog will disappear from his master’s side; and to-morrow we shall pick his bones. My husband told me. To-morrow we shall feast.”
“And the paleface—Fleet Foot—should die, too,” grumbled the third squaw. “He has a great appetite—he eats much. And there is no food to spare——”