“Your goodness is great,” I said. “I feel ashamed that I can make no gift in return.”
“You have already given us so much that we cannot thank you for it; the lives of Intschu-Tschuna and Winnetou were in your hands, and you spared them, and to-day again you might have killed the chief and you did not do so. Therefore our hearts turn to you, and if you will you shall be our brother.”
“If that may be, then my dearest wish will be fulfilled. Intschu-Tschuna is a renowned warrior, and I have loved Winnetou from the first moment that I saw him. It would not only be a great honor but a great joy to be the brother of such men; I only wish that my comrades could share it.”
“If they will, they shall be treated as if they had been born Apaches.”
“We thank you for this. So you carved the head of this pipe yourself? How skilful your hands are!”
She blushed over this praise, and said: “I know that the women and daughters of the pale-faces are far more skilful than we. Now I will go, and bring you something else.”
She disappeared, and returned with my revolver, my knife, and everything else that had been in my pockets, with nothing missing or injured.
“And how about our horses?” I asked.
“They are all here; you shall ride yours again, and Hawkins is to have his Nancy.”
“So you know the mule’s name?”