Crazy Snake stopped the words that were on his tongue and gazed at her in a questioning way.
“What does the Brown Eyes say?” he asked.
“Nothing!” she gasped. “Nothing!”
She shook with terror.
Crazy Snake turned again to Lightfoot.
“The young chief is wise,” he said. “Crazy Snake is the great war chief of the Blackfeet. His red arrow burns on the breasts of many white men already, and its bloody fire shall strike fear everywhere. The father of Brown Eyes wears it, and his scalp is now in the belt of Running Deer. But the girl is to be kept in the Blackfoot village. Crazy Snake has work to do, for the white men will gather to avenge the death of the men who wear the crimson arrow.”
Lightfoot stood with folded arms, listening.
“White men, one of them Long Hair, are now pursuing Crazy Snake. So Crazy Snake wishes to turn back; and he wishes to gather warriors, many warriors, to oppose the white men. He would strike the cunning white men down when they follow—strike down the thieves that steal the lands of the Blackfeet that they may dig in it for the yellow earth.”
“The son of the great chief hears,” said Lightfoot, when the older chief paused.
“The great chief will trust Lightfoot to take the white prisoner, Brown Eyes, on to the Blackfoot village, where she is to be held until the coming of Crazy Snake. Does my son hear with open ears?”