"Let us hold a council," the chief said, as he sat down on a stone, and signed to the Jester to take a place by his side. The latter obeyed without reply. There was a long silence, during which the two Indians examined each other attentively, in spite of the indifference they affected. At length Eagle-head spoke in a slow and accentuated voice.
"Eagle-head is a warrior renowned in his nation," he said; "he is the first sachem of the Comanches of the Lakes; his totem shelters beneath its mighty and protecting shadow the innumerable sons of the great sacred tortoise, _Chemiin-Antou_, whose glistening shell has supported the world since the Wacondah hurled into space the first man and the first woman after their fault. The words which come from the breast of Eagle-head are those of a sagamore; his tongue is not forked--a falsehood never sullied his lips. Eagle-head acted as a father to the Jester; he taught him how to tame a horse, pierce with his arrows the rapid antelope, or to stifle in his arms the mighty boar. Eagle-head loves the Jester, who is the son of his third wife's sister. Eagle-head gave a place at the council fire to the Jester; he made a chief of him; and when he went away from the villages of his nation he said to him, 'My son will command my warriors: he will lead them to hunt, to fish and to war.' Are these words true? Does Eagle-head speak falsely?"
"My father's words are true," the chief answered with a bow: "wisdom speaks through his lips."
"Why, then, has my son allied himself with the enemies of his nation to fight the friends of his father, the sachem?"
The chief let his head fall in confusion.
"Why, without consulting the man who has ever aided and supported him by his counsel, has he undertaken an unjust war?"
"An unjust war?" the chief remarked with a certain degree of animation.
"Yes, as it is carried on in concert with the enemies of our nation."
"The Apaches are cowardly and thievish dogs, whose deceitful tongues I will pluck out."
"But the palefaces are the enemies of the Indians."
"Those whom my son attacked last night are not Yoris; they are the friends of Eagle-head."
"My father will pardon the warrior: he did not know it."
"If the Jester really was ignorant of it, is he ready to repair the fault he has committed?"