This was the impression that gradually got abroad about Elias Rody.
He only smiled, rubbed his hands softly together, and muttered, “Humph!”
The monosyllable was full of meaning.
It meant that he thought his labour well bestowed, and that the design he had in view prospered even beyond his expectations.
What this design was must be already apparent.
He had courted this popularity to enable him to accomplish the dearest wish of his heart.
After his bland dismissal of Oluski, laden with gifts, he had acquired a control over his own naturally impetuous temper which astonished himself.
The refusal of the Seminole chief to give him quiet possession of the hill was the more annoying because it seemed to close for ever any further attempt at negotiation.
He understood the Indian character sufficiently to know that they were unchangeable in their opinions, and seldom, if ever, to be moved from a resolution once taken.
This tenacity of purpose had, time out of mind, brought ruin and devastation upon themselves as on those who sought to coerce them, and Rody ground his teeth with impotent rage when Oluski had announced the decision of the Indian council.