So, to gain time, she said as calmly as possible, but with a wild throbbing at her heart which she tried in vain to still:
“So the great chief loves the pale-face maiden? He would make her a queen? He would spend his whole life to make her happy? Is it not so?”
“Yes,” he said, eagerly. “Ku-nan-gu-no-nah loves Sun-Hair as the bird loves its mate. He will always make her happy. She shall never know what it is to weep. Her life shall always be pleasant. It shall be like a day when the green grass is new on the ground, and the dancing waters, freed from their cold bonds of ice, are laughing in the bright sunlight.”
“And my life shall be like one long day in the bright spring-time?” she said, as bravely as she could, smiling through all her fear.
“Yes,” again said the chief, with a searching look in her white face.
He had expected tears and opposition, and he received instead, smiles, and apparent acquiescence, and he was surprised and partially thrown off his guard.
“May be the white maiden will go with her Indian lover,” said Vinnie. “Give her time to think. It is very hard for her to leave her home and her kind old father. Does the chief think he can make Sun-Hair happier than she has been here? Can he make her forget her father and her home?”
“Did not Ku-nan-gu-no-nah tell the beautiful Sun-Hair that she should be a queen? She shall wear robes as dazzling as the light of the sun. She need not work like the Indian women. She need do nothing but sit and sing like a bird all day long. The red-women will bow their heads in shame before her bright face, and the warriors will sing songs about her beauty. They will think of their beautiful queen when they go on the war-path, and they will always return with the scalps of their dead enemies hanging in their belts. What more can Sun-Hair wish?”
“I think I will go,” said the girl, slowly. “Only give me time to think.”
“Ugh! It is well!” grunted Ku-nan-gu-no-nah, with another of his sickish smiles. Then frowning darkly, and with a significant tap on the handle of his tomahawk: