Then he said, warily:
"Take care--Elkfoot friend of Blackbird; like to look at Canada
belt. Got medal of king, too. Have Yankee scalp, bye'm by. Take
care--must speak low, when Elkfoot near."
"I begin to understand you, Chippewa; you wish me to believe that
YOU are a friend to America, and that the Pottawatamie is not. If
this be so, why have you held the speech that you did last night,
and seemed to be on a war-path AGAINST my countrymen?"
"Dat good way, eh? Elkfoot den t'ink me HIS friend dat very good in
war-time."
"But is it true, or false, that Mackinaw is taken by the British?"
"Dat true too--gone, and warrior all prisoner. Plenty Winnebago,
plenty Pottawatamie, plenty Ottowa, plenty redskin, dere."
"And the Chippewas?"
"Some Ojebway, too"--answered Pigeonswing, after a reluctant pause.
"Can't all go on same path this war. Hatchets, somehow, got two
handle--one strike Yankee; one strike King George."
"But what is your business here, and where are you now going if you
are friendly to the Americans? I make no secret of my feelings--I am
for my own people, and I wish proof that you are a friend, and not
an enemy.
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