g."

"You say that now, when I hold a knife on you. Why didn't you speak up
then?"

"Colonel de Marion is my commanding officer. Kill me, damn you. Is it
not your duty?"

"A warrior does as he pleases with his captives."

White Bear heard all around him, on the prairie and in the woods, the
war cries and whistle signals of the Sauk braves. It would not be long
before someone discovered White Bear crouched on top of this man,
holding a knife point to his throat.

Wegner said, "If I could, I would kill you."

"Yet if you had caught me the night my uncle offered fifty Spanish
dollars for my death, you would have let me go."

"How do you know that?"

It amused him to answer Wegner's question by saying, "I am a shaman--a
medicine man. We know things."

"Dummes Zeug," Wegner muttered. "Rubbish," he said louder, but his eyes
wavered.

White Bear said, "I am a healer. That is my work. I will not kill you
unless I have to. Give me your word you will not attack me, and I will
take the knife from your throat."

Wegner closed his eyes and sighed. "You are civilized. Maybe I can trust
you."

White Bear could not help laughing. "You saw today what civilized men do
to their prisoners. You can trust me because I am a Sauk."

"And why do you trust me?"

"Because I think you are a man of honor."

"All right. You have my word."

White Bear slowly drew back and stood over Wegner. The Prussian sat up,
then groaned. In the moonlight White Bear saw tears streaming
uncontrollably from his eyes. White Bear had him sit with his back to
the hollow tree. He brought his face close to the knee. With his eyes
adjusted to the darkness, the half-moon's rays were enough to show him
that Wegner had broken off the end of the arrow, and the rest of it
protruded from his kneecap. The arrow had gone into the joint. It hurt
White Bear just to look at it.

"I can try to pull this out," White Bear said.

"Go ahead."

"Give me that cloth around your neck."

With Wegner's bandanna White Bear wiped the blood off the arrow to make
it less slippery. It would have been easier if Wegner had not broken the
arrow. The protruding end was only long enough to let White Bear grip it
with one hand. He wrapped his left hand around his right to give him a
tighter grip, and pulled with all his strength.

Wegner fell over on his side in a faint.

_Thank Earthmaker he didn't scream._

The arrow had not moved at all.

When Wegner came around, Whit