“The eyes of Ohquamehud are two fires, which throw a light upon his path, and he sees clearly what is before him.  It is only blood that can wash out from the eyes of a warrior the remembrance of his enemy, and nothing but water has cleansed Ohquamehud’s.  Thrice have I meet Onontio, once on the yellow Wabash:  again, where the mighty Mississippi and Ohio flow into each other’s bosoms, and a third time on the plains of the Upper Illinois.  Look,” he cried suddenly, throwing open his shirt, and exposing his breast, “the bullet of Onontio made that mark like the track of a swift canoe in the water.  It talks very plain and will not let Ohquamehud forget.”

“If the Longbeard be Onontio, his son has done my brother no injury.”

“The gifts of the pale face have blinded the eyes, and stopped the ears of my sister, so that she can neither see nor hear the truth.  Who, when he kills the old panther, lets the cubs escape?”

“There is peace between the red man and the white on the banks of the Sakimau.  The long knives are as plenty as the leaves of the western forests.  Ohquamehud must forget the bullet of Onontio until he finds him on the prairie, or where the streams run towards the setting sun.”

“My sister is very wise,” said the savage, his whole manner changing from the ferocity, which had at first characterized it, to a subdued and even quiet tone.  “But,” added he, as it were despondingly, “let her not fear for the safety of the Longbeard.  Ohquamehud is weak and cannot contend with so great a medicine.”  He turned away, as if unwilling to continue the conversation, nor did Peena manifest any disposition to renew it.

There was, however, something about the Indian, that alarmed the squaw, as she had never been before, notwithstanding the pacific language, with which he concluded.  The time was drawing nigh for Ohquamehud’s return to the West, and, knowing his brutal temper, she feared that under the influence of the spirituous liquors he indulged in to excess, he might attempt to signalize his departure by some act of wrong and revenge, which would bring down destruction on himself, and disastrously affect the fortunes of the tribe.  He evidently cherished a bitter animosity toward Holden, whom he had recognized as a formidable enemy, and although a cool and wary savage when himself, and as capable of appreciating the consequences of an act as clearly as any one and therefore likely to be deterred from violence, there was no knowing what he might do, when stimulated by the frenzy that lurks in the seductive draught.  Peena knew the difficulty, with which an Indian foregoes revenge, and her apprehensions were the more excited by the attachment she felt for the two white men.  Fears, vague and unformed had before floated through her mind, but they now assumed consistency, and she determined to take such precautions until the departure of her kinsman as should prevent harm either to himself or others.  With this view, the moment she was alone with her son, she seized the opportunity to speak on the subject of her alarm.  But, first she thought it necessary to reprove him for his feelings towards his uncle.