"I am glad, miss, if it is as you say, and I accept your pledge for the Sioux chief, while, to him I would say, to go among his people, and tell them how utterly useless will it be for them to fight the whites, and the sooner he acts the better will it be for all."
"The Red Hatchet has heard, and will do as the White War Eagle says, for he knows him."
"Ah! I thought that we had met before," quickly said the officer.
"The White War Eagle has been the bitter foe of the Sioux, when on the war-path; but the Red Hatchet is his friend now."
The chief extended his hand, and Kit Carey grasped it, and then said:
"There is the pony of the chief. Let him lose no time in going to his braves and urging them against war."
Thus dismissed, the chief stalked silently to his pony, mounted, and rode away, while Kit Carey turned to Jennie Bernard, who now seemed confused at the position in which she found herself, for she spoke not a word.
"May I introduce myself as Lieutenant Carey, miss, and offer to be your escort to your home, for I know of no settlers' dwelling within miles of here?"
"My father's is the nearest, sir. I am Miss Bernard," was the response, and the manner and tone seemed more embarrassed than before.
"And Miss Bernard will accept me as her escort, for she is in danger of her life here?"