One of the Sleen Soldiers with Hci slapped his thigh with amusement. There was laughter, too, from others gathered about. More red savages, as if from nowhere, the word of Hic's visit to the lodge of Canka apparently having rapidly spread, appeared. There was now a crowd in front of the lodge.
'I have given Canka twenty kaiila,' said Hci to the crowd. 'In return he does not give me one she-kaiila.' He pointed to Winyela.
There was laughter from the crowd.
'Take back your kaiila!' said Canka, angrily.
'How can that be done?' said Hci. 'They have already been given.'
'I give them back to you!' said Canka, in fury.
'Very well,' said Hci, smiling. His fellow of the Sleen Soldiers tightened his grip on the lead rope.
'Hci is very clever,' said Cuwignaka to me. 'He knows Canka does not wish to surrender winyela. His caring for her is now well known in the camp. Even so, he did not put his plan into effect until after Canka had refused to give her to hsi father, Mahpiyasapa, for the Yellow Knives. If Canka would not surrender her to Mahpiyasapa he would not, of course, surrender her to Hci in an exchange of gifts.'
'Hci, then,' I said, 'did not expect to obtain Winyela.'
'Of course not,' said Cuwignaka. 'I do not even think he wants her. Sheis pretty but there are many pretty girls in camp. The Isanna have more than two hundred. Too, he may be the son of a chief, but he is still only a young man. He would not want to pay twenty kaiila for such a woman. For a young man that would be a crazy price to pay. She is only a white slave. A young man would not wnt to pay more than four or five kaiila for such a woman. Most white slaves go for a hide or less. Besides, after the cutting of his face, Hci has, for the most part, avoided the company of women, even slaves. Hci, I think, would rather kill Fleer and Yellow Knives than master slaves.'
'He is then, risking nothing,' I said.
'And, in shaming Canka, gaining a great deal,' said Cuwignaka. 'He is a clever fellow. I like him.'
'I am sorry, my friend, Canka,' said Hci, grinning, 'that you have lost honor in this matter. I hope that you will forgive me. In a way it is surely my fault. It did not occur to me that, in making peace between us, I should not offer you splendid gifts. I never conceived of it being possible that you lacked the nobility and generosity of the Kaiila warrior. It is well that you are only of the All Comrades. Such as you would never be accepted in the Sleen Soldiers.'
I tensed, for I feared that Canka would draw his knife and rush upon Hci. Hci, too, I think, was prepared for such an eventuality, and, I suspect, would have welcomed it. His knees were slightly flexed. His hand was near his knife sheath. Only too ready, I suspected, was Hci to submit the differences between himself and Canka to the arbitration of steel.
'Ho, ho!' suddenly laughed Cuwignaka, slapping at his leg. 'Hci does not see the joke!'
Both young men looked at Cuwignaka as though he might have taken leave of his senses.
'It is a good joke, Canka,' said Cuwignaka. 'You have fooled him well. For a momnet even I was fooled!'
'What are you talking about?' said Canka.
'Did you truly think, Hci,' laughed Cuwignaka, 'that my brother, Canka, who has served as Blotanhunka, and who is of the All Comrades, not merely of the Sleen Soldiers, would not take your twenty kaiila for a mere slave?'
'I will never surrender her,' said Canka.
'May I speak to my brother?' asked Cuwignaka, laughing.
'Certainly,' said Hci. He then turned to the crowd. 'It is lovely Siptopto, Canka's sister. Why should a sister not be permitted to speak to her brother? It is not a sister's privilege to speak to her broher?'
'Cinto!' said several in the crowd. 'Surely! Certainly!'
'Thank you,' said Cuwignaka.
'Do not stand between us,' said Canka.
Cuwignaka placed himself directly between the two young savages, facing Canka, his back to Hci. He placed his hands fraternally upon Canka's shoulders, an action which also, of course, had the consequence of assuring himself that Canka remained where he was. He spoke softly to Canka for a moment, and then stepped back. 'The joke has really gone far enough, my brother, I feel,' said Cuwignaka, rather loudly.
'You are right, Cuwignaka,' said Canka. 'Forgive me, Hci,' he said. 'I did not really mean to make sport of you.
Hci regarded him, puzzled.
'She is yours,' said Canka, indicating Winyela. Winyela looked agonized. I thought for a moment she might fall.
'She is mine?' asked Hci.
'Of course,' said Canka. 'Put a rope on her neck. Lead her away.' He then, firmly, took the lead rope of the kaiila string from the Sleen Soldier who led it.
'Mine?' asked Hci.
'Yes,' said Canka. 'You said that you would take her. Take her.'
'It is twenty kaiila!' sadi Hci.
'The terms of he exchange were yours,' said Canka. 'I find thempeculiar. But I certainly acept them. Take her.'
'Please, Master,' wept Winyela, piteously throwing herself to her knees at the feet of Canka, 'do not let me go! Do not give me to him! I love you! I love you!'
'Silence, mere slave,' said Canka, sternly.
Winyela put her head down. Her body was shaken with wild sobs.
'Do you think you are more than a mere object,' he asked, 'to be done with as I please?'
'No, Master,' she wept. 'No, Master.'
Hci was standing there, stunned.
'What are you going to do with her?' asked Canka, pleasantly.
Hci, I saw, had not planned on getting the girl, as Cuwignaka had speculated. He had not really thought about doing anything with her.
'My father wanted her,' said Hci. 'I will give her to him, for the Yellow Knives.'
'That is a good idea,' said Canka, warmly.
'Hci,' laughed a man, 'has to give twenty kaiila for a white slave!'
'I do not think I will let him do my trading for me,' said another man.
'It is two jokes,' laughed another. 'Hci was fooled into thinking Canka would not trade, and then Canka outwitted him, making a trade much to his profit!'
'If only I could do as well in the exhanging of gifts!' said another fellow.
There was general laughter.
'Come, Girl,' said Hci, angrily, to Winyela. He wished, clearly, to swiftly depart from this place where, suddenly, the tables being turned, he found himself, he, Hci, the sone of a chief, not only outdone but make to look foolish. This would mushly sting his vanity.
'Go with him,' said Canka to Winyela.
she rose unsteadily to her feet.
Hci turned away. But he had not taken more than a stride or two before Canka called after him, 'Hold, Hci, my friend!'
Hci, angrily, his hand at his knife hilt, turned.
'This is the time of making peace,' said Canka. 'This is the time of feasting and dancing. This is the time of the giving of gifts.'
Hci glared angrily at him.
'I give you twenty kaiila!' said Canka, lifting the lead rope of the kaiila. 'They are yours!'
'I have nothing to give you worth twenty kaiila!' shouted Hci, in fury.
'I will take her,' said Canka, pointing to Winyela.
'No,' said Hci, suddenly. 'I know now you want her. I will keep her!'
'Do so,' laughed Canka. 'But then,' he said, turning to the crowd, 'let it be told about all he fires how Hci lost
