There was much excitement in the village of the Sioux. The white queen, the idolized daughter of Oak Heart, had ridden away from her teepee and had not returned. Then came the discovery of the death of the young brave on the ridge, and the deed was set down to the credit of the hated Long Hair.
These mysterious murders that had been committed so near the encampment had wrought upon the tribesmen greatly. It seemed as though Long Hair possessed some supernatural power. He flitted, seemingly, from place to place without being seen, and killed the Sioux almost in the confines of the encampment.
While the chiefs were in council a horse was seen approaching from a mountain defile, down over the ridge, where the young brave had been found stabbed to the heart. Upon the back of the horse were two persons, one of them apparently a great chief in full war-dress; the other was White Antelope herself.
The strange chief rode directly down into the village, not deigning to more than grunt a salutation to the guards, and the girl refused to make any explanation, either. Straight to the council-lodge the chief rode, and, there dismounting, the two entered, the young girl leading the way.
The Indian is stoical and Spartan, but Oak Heart was fond of his remaining child. He was moved now by her unexpected recovery, and as she ran to him he allowed her to take and hold his hand. The old men nodded, too, for they believed that the White Antelope was “good medicine.” The strange chief, however, they did not know, and they eyed him with suspicion as well as curiosity. Finally the White Antelope arose and stepped into the circle, and there made her voice heard by all in the lodge.
“The Sioux are a wise people; their chiefs are wise; their old men are wise, but sometimes even the wise are mistaken. They make mistakes. They welcome into their tribe one who stung and bit like the viper warmed in the bosom. Such a viper has been warmed in the bosom of the Utah Sioux!”
The old men grunted and looked at each other. Some glanced covertly at the place where the medicine chief, Death Killer, should have sat. He was not present.
“This one came with a false tale to my father, the great chief, Oak Heart, and told a tale which sent the Sioux on the war-path. They fell upon the palefaces and killed them. The palefaces were not searching for the Sioux village; they were searching for a wicked paleface to punish him. Ah! he was two-tongued—and his tongue was sharp as a knife.
“The White Antelope speaks the truth to you. This traitor was in the councils of the Sioux, but with his own hand he was murdering our young men. See! The still, red scalp of Po-ca-his-ta, torn from his head by the traitor this very day. And this—as other—murders he would have had the Sioux believe were done by Long Hair, the paleface scout.
“Long Hair was sent to tell his big chief of my father’s warning, and to bring people to bury the dead. Long Hair said he would return. Long Hair is of a straight tongue. He is here!”