“The great chiefs thought it over. It was certain beyond a doubt that Mulvey had joined the Narugas. That was one thing.
“There wasn’t much doubt that he would put his scheme of revenge into operation if we persisted in pursuing them.
“The Narugas live, as I have told you, at a distance of several hundred miles. We had their promise that the crimes with which we had been troubled should cease entirely.
“That promise might not amount to anything, but as we had already spent a great deal of money and energy in trying to get hold of Mulvey, it was decided that it would be worth while to test that promise.
“If the crimes ceased altogether and Mulvey never returned to civilization we would be so much the gainer.
“He was as harmless to us out there as if we had hanged him in the prison yard.
“On the other hand if there should be so much as one more crime of that character that could be traced to Mulvey or his tribe we would then be justified in asking the military authorities to take action and simply wipe the Narugas off the earth.
“On the whole, as I have said, it seemed better to give this white chief a chance to keep his promise, so we sent our captives back to Gordonia with a message to their chief telling him our decision.
“The promise has been kept.”