urning and pointing up the other fork, he said,

"Morning. Hole in mountains. Blue-coats come. Go through hole. Get away.
Come back some day, when blue-coats go home sick. Ugh!"

It was not a long speech, and it could hardly be described as "eloquent"
but all the wiser and more influential braves said "Ugh!" and the road
to the left was decided upon without any more discussion. That also
decided in advance the course to be followed by Captain Grover and his
cavalry, when they in their turn should reach the same point. Hour by
hour they were slowly gaining upon the dangerous horse-thieves they were
pursuing, and in due time they would surely learn whether or not they
had a right to rejoice upon catching up with them. They were acting as
the police and constables of a very disorderly community.

As for Long Bear and his Nez Perces, they had a very good reason for
lazily hunting and fishing around their present camp until the return of
the party which had gone for the hidden lodges, and so forth. Very few
Indians need anything better than an excuse for not doing anything.

Two Arrows was not one of those Indians. Na-tee-kah continually called
his attention to something new which she had discovered in the ways or
in the possessions of those pale-faces. She was greatly interested in a
curious wire "broiler." It opened, and a fish or a steak was put in, and
it shut up and was put upon the coals, and when the cooking was
finished, the long handles enabled you to take it off and not burn your
fingers. There were twenty other things as wonderful as the broiler; and
the judge had shown her how to wash her hands with soap, and had given
her a pair of ear-rings and a silver buckle for her new blanket. She
hardly knew what would come next, but she entirely sympathized with her
brother in his own dream when he told her what it was.

"Ask pale-face chief," she said.

"Ugh! Laugh. Bow and arrows good enough for boy."

He said it almost bitterly, and Na-tee-kah stamped on the ground sharply
as she responded,

"Two Arrows is a young chief. Big brave. Not a boy any more. Kill
grisly. Kill cougar and big-horn. Bring back pony. Great chief in a
little while. Give him rifle."

Two Arrows had a good enough opinion of himself, but he perfectly
understood the easy good-nature with which he was treated by Yellow Pine
and the rest. They regarded Sile as one bright boy and him as another,
and had no idea of wasting costly rifles and such