“No,” he said, “that was not a dream.” 349
“We were on the land, and I was so tired, and you talked to me––something good––I cannot remember what it was, but I know that you were good. And I thought that I––that I said words that hurt you, unkind words. And when I wished and tried to speak as I felt, only the other words would come. That was a dream, M’sieu, was it not? It has been troubling me. You have been so kind, and I could not sleep thinking that––that––”
“Yes,” he said, “that was a dream.”
She looked at him with relief, but as she looked she seemed to become more fully awake to what they were saying. Her eyes lowered again, and the red came over her face.
“I am glad,” she said, so low that he hardly heard.
“And now you will rest, Mademoiselle?”
She smiled softly, and drew back within the hut, closing the heavy door. And Menard turned away, unmindful of the wide-eyed boys who were staring from a safe distance at him and at the door where the strange woman had appeared. He sat with his back against the logs of the hut, and looked at the ants that hurried about over the trampled ground.
The sun was high when he was aroused by 350 Teganouan, who had spent the greater part of the morning among the people of the village.
“Have you any word, Teganouan?”
“Yes. The warriors have learned of the strength of the Big Buffalo, and his name frightens them. They bow to the great chief who has killed the Long Arrow without a hatchet. They say that the Onondagas should be punished for their treachery.”