“I will stay here.”
“Good; then go up in a burst,” said Sam, turning as if to go away.
The chief sprang from the wagon, seized Sam’s arm, and cried: “Go up in a burst! Why does Sam Hawkins speak such words?”
“To warn you of death, which would have grabbed you in a moment if you stayed there.”
“Uff! Is death in that wagon? Show him to me!”
“Later, maybe. Have not your spies told you why we are here?”
“I learned from them that you wish to make a road for the fire-horse of the pale-faces.”
“That’s it, and such a road goes over rivers, under ground, and through rocks; you know that, and you may have heard of the stuff with which we blow up the mighty rocks which are in the way of our fire-horse’s feet. Is it that powder with which we load our guns?”
“No; the pale-faces have made another discovery by which they can overthrow whole mountains.”
“Right; and this discovery we carry in that wagon, done up in packages, and if you touch it carelessly it will explode in your hands and blow you into a thousand pieces.”