Auguste heard Lieutenant Davis sitting behind him, say to one of his men, "If I weren't on duty, I'd teach that scoundrel a lesson."
Someone with the accent of Victoire called out, "Raoul, your father is right! Tu es un sauvage!"
Cooper pounded on his table with his wooden mallet until there was silence.
Thomas Ford called, "Master Woodrow Prewitt, will you take the stand, please?"
Woodrow walked past Auguste, who felt a warmth for him and, again, a pang of longing for Eagle Feather.
Under Ford's questions, Woodrow told how White Bear and Redbird had treated him like a foster son, and how White Bear had helped them escape.
When it was Bennett's turn, he stood threateningly over Woodrow. "Have you forgotten, young man, that you had a real, white, Christian father and mother? Have you forgotten what the Indians did to them?"
"No, sir," said Woodrow in a small voice.
"Well, then, how can you make it out that this half-Indian and his squaw were such fine people? They held you prisoner!"
"Sir, my pa used to whip me before breakfast and after supper. My ma laid in bed most days, drunk. White Bear—Mr. Auguste—he was kind to me. So was his missus. Living with them was shinin'."