Their presence startled her. That they would make their way this far north, when their reindeer had been sent back by paid messengers some days before, had certainly seemed very improbable both to Johnny and to the girl.
Evidently the Chukches were very revengeful in spirit or very faithful in the performance of murders they had covenanted to commit. At any rate, here they were. And the girl did not deceive herself, this was a council chamber. She did not doubt for a moment that her sentence would be death. Her only question was, could there be a way of escape? The wall was lined with dusky forms this time. The entrance was closely guarded. Only one possibility offered; above her head, some five feet, a strong rawhide rope crossed from pole to pole of the igloo. Directly above this was the smoke hole. She had once entered one of these when an igloo was drifted over with snow.
The solemn parley of the council soon began. Like a lawyer presenting his case, the headman of the reindeer tribe stood before them all and with many gestures told his story. At intervals in his speech two men stepped forward for examination. The jaw of one of them was very stiff and three of his teeth were gone. As to the other, his face was still tied up in bandages of tanned deer skin. His jaw was said to be broken. The Jap girl, in spite of her peril, smiled. Johnny had done his work well.
There followed long harangues by other members of the reindeer tribe. The last speech was made by the headman of East Cape. It was the longest of all.
At length a native boy turned to the Jap girl and spoke to her in English.
"They say, that one; they say all; you die. What you say?"
"I say want—a—die," she replied smiling.
This answer, when interpreted, brought forth many a grunt of surprise.
"They say, that one! they say all," the boy went on, "how you want—a die? Shoot? Stab?"
"Shoot." She smiled again, then, "But first I do two thing. I sing. I dance. My people alletime so."