The interpreter turned to his companions, and repeated what Scott had said. Evidently it was not favorably received, as Scott could see by the menacing looks that were turned upon him. He waited, with some anxiety, for the answer to his claim. He had to wait for some minutes, during which the Indians appeared to be consulting. It came at last.
"The white man has lied," said the Indian sententiously. "The horse is ours."
"That's pretty cool, eh, Tom?" said Scott, provoked; not only by the denial of his claim, but by the charge of falsehood.
Tom did not answer, thinking silence more prudent.
The Indian interpreter looked suspiciously from one to the other. He understood what "cool" meant, but was not familiar with the special sense in which Scott used it.
"I will prove that the horse is ours," said Scott. "Here, Dan!"
The horse whinnied, and tried to reach Scott, upon hearing his name pronounced.
"There," said Scott triumphantly, "you see the horse knows me. I have not lied."
The speech was an imprudent one. Indians are not lawyers, but they understand the familiar saying, that "possession is nine points of the law." That the horse was a valuable one they understood; and they had no intention of parting with him. Still more, they looked with covetous eyes at the horses ridden by Scott and the boy, and they had already made up their minds to seize them also.
"The white man is a magician," said the interpreter. "He has bewitched the horse. The horse is ours. He has always belonged to us."