dvise Running Wolf to send the wolf away. It was clear that the general
feeling of the meeting was that Kiopo should not be injured, and that if
he were driven away, no one must attempt it but Running Wolf.

At this point another voice broke in which Dusty Star recognized only
too well. The person was no other than Sitting-Always herself. She spoke
quickly and with great earnestness.

"The wolf is bad," she said. "Nothing has gone well since he came to the
camp. The boy also is bad. He and the wolf are always making medicine.
That is why they go alone upon the prairies that they may make medicine
together out of sight of the tepees. It will not be sufficient to drive
the wolf away. As long as the boy is here, the wolf will come back. He
is teaching the boy the wolf medicine. When the boy has learnt it fully,
it will be a madness to send war parties against the Gros Ventres. If
you destroy the wolf, you will destroy the medicine, and the boy will
lose his power. He is Indian now, but there is something in him that is
wolf. Either he will carry his medicine to our enemies, the Gros
Ventres, or he will go back to the wolves. You must kill the wolf, even
if you do not touch the boy. You must kill, kill, _kill_!"

As Sitting-Always finished her speech, her voice rose to a shrillness
that was almost a shout. In the yellow desert of her face her sunken
eyes glittered with passion. It was plain to all who saw her that she
was very greatly moved. To the one person who heard, but did not see
her, it was as if a poisoned arrow had plunged into his heart.

After she had ceased speaking, a low murmur of voices filled the tepee.
The passionate words of the old squaw had roused the Indians to a
feeling that something must be done. Spotted Owl's next speech showed
this very clearly. He did not commit himself so far as to say that the
wolf must be killed; but he allowed his hearers to draw their own
conclusions. Once the wolf was out of the way, the boy could be dealt
with as the tribe should decide. When Sitting-Always heard the
concluding words of the speech, a look of evil triumph glimmered in her
face.

Dusty Star did not wait to hear any more. Whatever plan his enemies
might adopt, there was no time to lose. The secret was out now--the
dark, unspoken thing which his sense had warned him was walking in the
camp. As he crept away from the tepee, hatred, fear, and anger made his
heart feel as if it would burst. Yet it was not so m