the one most interested in the success
of the aged chief's design.
    During the whole of the foregoing scene, it would have been difficult to
have traced a single distinct emotion in the lineaments of the captive. He had
heard his release proclaimed with the same indifference as the order to bind him
to the stake. But now that the moment had arrived when it became necessary to
make his election, he spoke in a way to prove that the fortitude which had
bought for him so distinguished a name, had, in no degree, deserted him.
    »My father, is very old, but he has not yet look'd upon every thing;« said
Hard-Heart, in a voice so clear as to be heard by all in presence. »He has never
seen a buffaloe change to a bat. He will never see a Pawnee become a Sioux!«
    There was a suddenness and yet a calmness, in the manner of delivering this
decision which assured most of the auditors, that it was unalterable. The heart
of Le Balafré, however, was yearning towards the youth, and the fondness of age
was not so readily repulsed. Reproving the burst of admiration and triumph, to
which the boldness of the declaration and the freshened hopes of revenge, had
given rise, by turning his gleaming eye around the band, the veteran, again
addressed his adopted child as if his purpose was not to be denied.
    »It is well,« he said. »Such are the words a brave should use, that the
warriors may see his heart. The day has been when the voice of Le Balafré was
loudest amongst the lodges of the Konzas. But the root of a white hair is
wisdom. My child will show the Tetons that he is brave, by striking their
enemies. Men of the Dahcotahs this is my son!«
    The Pawnee hesitated a moment, and then stepping in front of the chief, he
took his hard and wrinkled hand, and laid it, with reverence on his head, as if
to acknowledge the extent of his obligation. Then recoiling a step, he raised
his person to its greatest elevation, and looked upon the hostile band by whom
he was environed, with an air of loftiness and disdain, as he spoke aloud in the
language of the Siouxes.
    »Hard-Heart has look'd at himself, within and without. He has thought of all
that he has done, in the hunts and in the wars. Every where he is the same.
There is no change. He is in all things a Pawnee. He