The Red Cloud chief., 1917-01-11

"He--he says he will fight If you do
not promise to go away :" she gasped.
Hardy smiled. Have no fear, DIN
ma. lie Is too great II chief to kill Il
guest in his camp. Tell him l came
to the reservation to be Il friend to the
tribe. Though l am II chief Of the
Longknives, my heart Is good toward
his people. 1t would be foolish of
him to kill or drive away the friend
Of his people"
This time Ti-Owa-konza gave the in
truder an open stare of contempt. The
surrounding bucks glared more fero-
ciously thun eve
ale says you are fork-tongued,"
Oinna translated the reply. "He says,
If you are u friend, why did you say
at the council that you would punish
all the tribe for the killing of Nogenf"
"That is u mistake. l Gid not say j
would punish the tribe"
Oinna interpreted the answer and
the grim old chiefs r%ejoinder: "The
Longknife's mouth was big ut the
agency. Here he is alone in my camp
and his mouth Is small"
81 talk as 1 talked ut the agency.
What Ti-owa-konza claims 1 said about
furnishing the tribe is not the truth.
There must have been IA mistake IN
the Interpretation, or the chiefs did
not hear Alright. ] had only peace and
friendship in my heart. I said that I
did not blame the killing of Mr.. Nogen
on the tribe"
This statement failed to break
Thunderbolt's mask Of stolidity,
though some Of the other Indians
slightly relaxed their menacing atti-
tude. Hardy took Off his hat to show
the red scar above his temple, and
spoke again:
II do not blame the killing of Mr..
Nogen on the tribe; nor do l blame
the tribe for the wrongdoing of the
bad-hearted Indian who shot me in
the head five days ago. The same
man, or another man with q bad heart,
tried to shoot me, after shutdown to-
day, as l came UP the trail over on the
other side Of the broken-topped noun
tain"
Oinna's Interpretation was met by a
cultural ugh" of surprise ever from
the chief. He asked shrewdly: "If the
Longknife does not lie, is he not afraid
to be in my camp? 1t is the nearest
to the trail"
Hardy smiled and held out his open
palm to the chief. II trust Ti-owa.
| -a,yn and ht. ,AnpIA Tl,nrA TO nnlr
one bad Indian, and even he may come
to feel good in his heart toward me
when he learns that l am the friend OF
the tribe"
Still the old chiefs face remained
%inscrutably immoblle. He pondered
and ut last made another sharp query
"The Longknife claims that he is q
friend. Why, then, did he say mt the
council that he will do the way NogeE
did and make ny people dig stones
and dirt from the big holes. without
giving them any trade goods for tbeil
wOrk?"
Harcy's clear eyes dimmed for 6
moment, and then sparklcd with cOm
%prehension. He answered with az
earnest sincerity Of ton that com
PEELED belief:
II now see that at the council Red
bear miStook much of what l told hi;
TO say, or else, in their anger, Ti-Owa
kOr2a and his subchiefs failed to I'm
derstand Alright the Interpretation. TIL,
place where stones are Gug is OF In
dian ground. 1t belongs to the tribe
No white Il has any right to MAKE
your people dig stones. If they ar
willing to dig, they must be giyeI
trade goods FOR their work"
The response to this statement VA
understandable. The moment that OHM;
had interpreted 1t the last trace o
menace disappeared from the bearin.
of the Indians, and eve the chic
began to relax. Yet he had still IN
other query:
, did the Longknife say he woul
stop the issue to the tribe of all GOV
eminent goods ard that he would TAX
away from the tribe all their land
and give thea to the white men?'
At last the real cause of TIE failur
Of the council was disclosed. Eithe
Intentionally or through stupid blur
dering, Redbear had made the chief
furious by II twisted interpretatio
, that had given the exact reverse c
what had been Intended. With tn
D key to the situation in his hand
I Hardy at once began to make clea
! what he had tried to tell ut the couI
I ell. He explained why the issues A;
goods would cease the followin
Q spring, and what was meant by au a
lotting of tribal land in sevcralty. II
added that If there was gold ON AZ
OF the reservation land 1t would
well for the tribe to sell that part
l. what they owned; otherwise ha
d white men would, sooner or late
l. come In and steal 1t.
More than half convinced of Ia
IS iy's sincerity, though with still Il Ii
l. gerlng suspicion, Ti-owa'konza e
planned in turn that the tribe was n
" only willing to allot the farming lnl