Not slow was the shrewd old hag to note the impression her bitter invective had made upon the cavalrymen and, without delay, she followed it up.
"If the dogs of palefaces have wives, may they rot with child; if they have sweethearts, may they play with them and jilt them; if they have children, may they grow up deformed and idiotic! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha!"
And she croaked in diabolical glee.
Of a sudden her manner changed.
"What do the palefaces want, more curses? Haven't they had enough?" she shrieked, angered that, though the soldiers trembled beneath her imprecations, they made no move to leave the cave.
"May—"
But before another word could leave her lips, the lieutenant commanding the troopers, having recovered from the first shock of surprise, bellowed:
"Seize her! Bind her! Gag the old vixen!"
Eagerly the cavalrymen sprang forward, their faces bespeaking with what relish they would obey the commands.
Yet before they could lay hands on her, Kaw-Kaw began to back away, swinging her crooked staff in front of her to hold off the troopers, while she screamed in the language of her tribe.