aoul's men rode off, White Bear was torn by indecision. Should he
tell Raoul that other braves had followed them here, to see how they
were treated? Or would that just endanger the lives of Iron Knife and
the others?

_He'll use everything I tell him against me._

Raoul's eyes stared death at White Bear. "Black Hawk's a damn liar. He's
broken every treaty we ever made with you people. There's only one way
to deal with your kind. If you can't be trusted to keep treaties, you
have to be exterminated." He drew his pistol.

"Starting here."

_Bear spirit, walk with me on the Trail of Souls._

Little Crow said, "What do they say, White Bear? Are they going to kill
us?"

"It is our fate to have fallen into the hands of a bad man," said White
Bear. Having to tell them hurt him all the more. It grieved him that
these two good men must die along with him, their lives thrown away
because of a bit of bad luck.

"We were fools to come here," said Three Horses.

"Not fools--braves," White Bear reassured him. "A man who gives his life
to protect his people is never a fool. Whether or not he succeeds."

"You _are_ a prophet, White Bear," said Little Crow.

Raoul was staring at White Bear's chest. White Bear wondered if his
heart was beating so hard that Raoul could see it hammering.

"Look at those scars. Looks like a bear tried to get you a long time
ago. Too bad he didn't finish you, would have saved me the trouble."

White Bear would not talk about anything sacred with Raoul. He looked
back at him silently.

"Guess you don't know all there is to know about your nephew," Eli
Greenglove laughed.

"Don't call him my nephew!" Raoul shouted.

White Bear saw some of Raoul's men exchange befuddled glances.

"Well, whatever he is, I kind of think we ought to send him and these
others back down the line. Let them palaver with the general. It ain't
for us to decide."

"What the hell do you mean?" Raoul thundered.

The popping of rifle fire on the other side of Old Man's Creek cut short
the argument. White Bear turned to look.

A moment later Perrault, his horse's legs dripping creek water, came
pounding up.

"You were right, mon colonel," he panted. "Those woods are full of
Indians. They were sneaking up on the camp."

"These three were supposed to distract us with peace talk while the
others snuck up on us," Raoul shouted to his men. "First we'll shoot
these Indians. Then we'll hunt down the rest of them."

"It