"you shall be known
unto all men as Soaring Eagle, the Winged Spirit! And you, Flaming Star,
as the Giver of Life!" Then, planting the wand upright in the ground
between them, he bade them take hold of it; Chiquita with the left hand
and the Captain with the right, his hand above hers.

"By the power and sacred symbolism represented by this staff," he
continued, "I invest you both with the supreme authority. And further, I
call all men to witness that, the hand of Soaring Eagle rests above that
of the Giver of Life, which signifies that his word shall outweigh all
others in the Councils of the People." He ceased speaking and turned to
the Captain as if awaiting his reply.

A prolonged silence ensued, during which the latter's gaze swept the
vast conclave of horsemen and forest of lances that glittered in the
sunlight and the wild mountains beyond which towered above the valley
and had looked down upon the Tewana in the ancient days when _his_ race
was in the cradle of its infancy. Beside him stood the beauteous woman
who seemed endowed with all the wit and graces the poets of the ages had
attributed to the ideal woman. An inspiring, uplifting spectacle, far
surpassing in its reality the vision of his dreams.

He had attained the goal. The responsibility had been laid upon him, and
without hesitation he accepted the charge, and spake; his words being
translated by Chiquita, were repeated in turn to the multitude by the
White Cloud.

"Tewana, we accept the charge which you have imposed in us," he began
quietly. "But understand, we come not to rule you; we come to guide you.
It is time that you should learn to rule yourselves.

"The days of rulers have passed. Woe unto them that seek to rule, and
woe unto the people that bows its neck to rulers! The message which we
have come to deliver unto you, we deliver likewise unto all men and it
shall go forth unto the uttermost confines of the earth." He paused,
then raising his voice on high once more, he continued:

"Tewana, do you accept the terms? We come to guide you, not to rule
you!"

A profound silence followed his speech. No sound was heard save the
sighing of the wind among the warriors' lance tips and shields and their
arrow-filled quivers, and the rustling of the seven eagle feathers
attached to the White Cloud's staff.

"Tewana," he asked again. "Do you accept the terms?"

Again all was silence. Then, all of a sudden, a vibrant, ringing note,
audible to all,