"I am told you have a pale eyes woman prisoner."
"I came to speak to you about her," White Bear said, and silently asked his spirit self to help him persuade Black Hawk to let her go.
He told Black Hawk how he had convinced the people not to kill her.
"You did well," said Black Hawk. "We must make the long knives respect us, not just fear us. Warriors should not torture and kill prisoners. The great Shooting Star would never let his men torture prisoners."
White Bear felt a glow of pleasure at Black Hawk's approval. He felt more hopeful that Black Hawk might listen to him. He decided to plunge ahead with his request.
"If we give this woman back to the pale eyes, maybe they will talk peace with us."
The Winnebago Prophet stopped eating long enough to say, "Better to keep her. If the long knives attack us we can threaten to kill her."
Aware that Flying Cloud's argument made a kind of brutal sense, White Bear felt a sinking in his chest.
Black Hawk pursed his wide mouth thoughtfully. "The Prophet speaks wisely. It is foolish to give the woman to the long knives as a gift. We should hold her until we are ready to trade her for something." He turned his sombre gaze on White Bear. "You must keep her. You must not let her escape."
White Bear now had to go back to tell Nancy that the Sauk would not let her go. The thought of her terror and misery made him sick with sorrow for her.