Take horses and cattle for your journey, and forgive us if we have
done wrong. If the white men were on the plains, the Raven would
say, Let my young men charge; but they hold the pass, and the guns
that shoot without loading are too strong. Have I spoken well?"
There was a low murmur of applause. The feeling that the position
of the white men was impregnable was general; and they all felt
convinced that those terrible enemies would devise some unknown
scheme which would end in the total annihilation of the tribe.
The Raven's proposition was therefore unanimously assented to.
The Raven then laid aside his arms, and attended by six of the
principal chiefs, carrying green boughs in token of amity, advanced
toward the mouth of the gorge. Mr. Hardy, with five of the whites,
and with Perez to interpret, advanced to meet him.
When the two groups met the Raven commenced gravely, in the Indian
language: "The white chief of the flying fire is mighty, and the
Great Spirit has blinded his children. They carried off the little
White Bird, but they did not harm her. Bad men would have harmed
her, but the Raven stood by her side. The great white chief has taken
back his little White Bird, and he has killed the men whom
the Great Spirit blinded.
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