Pontiac heard what he said, for he immediately gave the assurance Bob requested.
"If others have come with you to bring the white girl back, they, too, shall not be harmed until they have reached the swift water. Because they are your friends, Pontiac has said this. So let them appear. They shall walk among us in safety, for the word of the chief is given."
But, though Bob raised his voice and called, none of the other four cared to accept the invitation to come into the village and meet the sachem of the Sacs.
Perhaps it was just as well. Both Simon Kenton and Pat O'Mara were well-known Indian fighters, and belonged to a class of men who threatened to be thorns in the side of Pontiac in his ambitious designs to head a new confederation of tribes.
Doubtless they would be quickly recognized by some of the Indians present from other tribes; and even the word of Pontiac might not keep these warriors from seeking to avenge their kin who had fallen in times past before the rifles of Daniel Boone, Simon Kenton and their fellow borderers.
CHAPTER XXX
SAFE AT LAST
"We must get away from here without delay, Sandy," said the elder of the young pioneers, after exchanging a few more words with Pontiac.
"Shall we accept the offer of Pontiac," asked Sandy, "and make for the river under the guard of his men?"