In the lodge which was now given to us (for it is needless to say I gave not a second thought to the permission to depart) there was ample time to con over the position, and to realize fully its dangers. The arrival of the Sircies would undoubtedly be the signal for an outbreak of angry feeling against the Sioux on the part of the united camps of Blackfeet and Sircies. The defeat and disappointment which the latter had suffered at his hands, to say nothing of the wounds he had inflicted upon at least two of their braves, would now be counted heavily against him—all added to whatever incentive to his destruction the trader had originally held before them. These thoughts were by no means reassuring as we sat moodily through the night in the lodge; but long before morning he had determined upon a plan which would at least defeat in some measure the machinations of his enemies, and might eventually be the means of freeing him altogether from danger.
From two quarters next day there arrived at the Blackfeet camp enemies to the Sioux. A party of Bloods from the Cypress hills, and the Sircies from the Medicine, appeared upon the scene ere the sun had set.
As may be supposed, their joy at hearing of the capture of the Sioux was very great; but there was this difference between them—that whereas the Bloods only sought the property of their enemy, the Sircies longed for his life.
The trader had laid his schemes this time with no uncertain purpose, and the price to be paid to the Sircie chief was for the life of his enemy, not for his horses or weapons. Little wonder was it then that when they found actually in their possession the same man who had recently completely baffled all their machinations, escaping from their snares in a most mysterious and unaccountable manner at the very moment they had deemed his capture most assured, that they should give vent to their feelings in loud yells and shouts of savage triumph, the sounds of which told but too surely to Red Cloud the confirmation of his worst anticipations.
In a large council held this evening, and at which all the chiefs and leading men were present, it was almost unanimously resolved that the Sioux was a lawful prize. Firstly, by reason of the aggression made by the Ogahalla tribe upon the Bloods; and secondly, by the wounds inflicted upon the bodies of two Sircies at the hut at the forks of the Red Deer river.
It was decided, however, that before any final decision was come to with reference to the punishment which the captive was to suffer he should be heard in full council, and an opportunity given him of putting forward anything he had to say in his defence. This was done more on account of my presence in the camp than from any idea of justice to the Sioux. It was thought that the white man might carry to the forts on the Saskatchewan information that might afterwards lead to trouble between the white man and the Indians, and it was therefore advisable to carry out as many of the forms of justice as it was possible to arrange.
This council was to meet on the following day, and to it were summoned the chiefs and leading men of the Bloods, Sircies, and Blackfeet here assembled.