After having discussed various topics incidental to the treaty, Mahaska asked:
“Mahaska”—he always spoke of himself in the third person—“heard the great Tumult say that the young white ranger was in league with the Arapaho. He spoke the truth. The ranger is the friend of the Arapaho—the enemy of the Sioux and the pale-face.”
“How does Mahaska know?” questioned the scout.
“His scouts have been in the heart of the Arapaho village. They saw the ranger there, and heard him talking with the white prophet. When the Boy Ranger comes here to meet the great Tumult and his friend, when the sun goes down, let them beware, for he will bring many warriors with him whose hearts burn for their blood.”
His own ideas of Rollo’s treachery at once convinced Tumult that there was more truth than fiction in the chief’s warning.
“We’ll be on the watch for the young rascal,” said the scout, “when he comes to-night.”
“Can the great scout be on the watch for the many warriors that will follow him like shadows?”
“Not if more’n six comes at a time,” replied Tumult.
“Then Mahaska and his warriors will hide in the forest, and if the Arapahoes come with the ranger, the Sioux will slay them, for many of my young warriors have promised to go back to their village with Arapaho scalps.”
The old scout saw at once what the chief was driving at, and he could do no better than to accept his proffered aid, or protection against the treachery of Rollo.