Apparently wishing to see the inside of our house—or to get the drop on me in some way—after a few more words between them, Joe said:
"He say: 'White man come to Kiowa's camp Kiowa feed him. Satank he hungry. Want to go in casa, eat with white man—be good amigos.'"
I replied:
"Food all gone. Pardners gone with wagon to bring some buffalo meat. Tell him to come again when pardners get back. I'll give him plenty to eat."
Of course, Satank did not believe this, and I did not care. I wished to stand him off, for I was determined that he should get no closer inspection of our situation than he already had. I felt sure that he had a party of his warriors close about—probably in hiding in the timber—and that he had come on a spying tour.
Satank evidently recognized me as one of the actors in an episode that took place at Fort Wise when I was in the service, and asked a number of questions about it. To all these I replied by denying any knowledge of the event. The interpreter said, however:
"He say: 'You can't fool him. He know you.'"
I was in dread all the time that they might lift their eyes to the upland prairie in the direction of Fort Larned, where our white-covered wagon was still in plain view; but a little swell of the prairie hid it from them.
After exchanging a few more words in their own language, Joe turned to me and said:
"Adios, good-by, señor. We go—vamose."