"Take care! Here comes Many Bears himself, and two of his cunningest councillors."
It did not require much guessing on Steve's part to know that, for the "cunning" of those old Indians was written all over their dark, wrinkled faces.
"More advice wanted," thought Murray, but it was not asked for so soon as he expected.
The first words of Many Bears were complimentary, of course. His pale-face friend had been very wise. All he had said had been good, even to the not permitting the young men to follow the Lipans into the mountains. Warriors had told the chief that Send Warning and Knotted Cord had picked up something in the camp of the pale-faces. The Apaches were glad. Their friends were welcome to what they had found. Murray interrupted him there by promptly holding out one of the little buckskin bags.
"Great chief take it."
"No. No want it. Send Warning keep it, and tell Apaches what better do next."
"Go to better hunting-ground. Bad place for camp."
"Will the Lipans come again?"
"Not till after next snow. Got enough now. Come then."
All that and more came in as a sort of preface to what Many Bears really wanted to say. He had something very heavy on his mind that morning, and in order to get rid of it he had to tell the whole story of the buffalo-hunt his band had made away beyond the mountains into the country claimed by the Lipans. That was the way they came to be followed so closely by Two Knives and his warriors.