This announcement produced a profound sensation among the braves and excitedly they jabbered.
But whatever his warriors were urging, their chief refused, again turning toward his prisoner:
"Paleface talk heap big. No fool Great Bear. Great Bear burn paleface at stake. Paleface frien's cum, Injun fight um, scalp um. Ugh! Ugh!"
And he sucked in his breath, making a gruesome sound.
But Comanche Tony refused to be frightened.
He knew that the Navajos were a peaceful tribe, as Indian tribes went, and he wondered what had sent them on the warpath, till suddenly he remembered the attack on the cabin Jesse had repulsed just before he had made his race for life from the Vigilantes, and it occurred to him that perhaps these were some of the same bucks seeking revenge.
If such should be the case, it would never do for him to disclose his identity.
Their words had told him that they had no fear of the cavalrymen, so that reference to them would stand him in no stead, and as minute after minute went by without any sound or sign of Jesse, his hope began to fail him.
Yet no trace was there in his face of what was passing in his mind.