But after the first burst of passion was over, Black Elk would begin to think of the two white lads that had brought this disgrace upon the royal household, and, as he mused, his resentment would kindle toward them. All the Indians not unnaturally looked upon every white man as an intruder. Though history shows that the aborigines welcomed their visitors, yet the action of the latter was so cruel that the friendship of the red men was turned to enmity. Thus most of the trappers and hunters who ventured into the West and Northwest took their lives in their hands, and many never came back from the wild solitudes. The story of the settlement of our country is a continuous one of outrage and massacre, in which the fault lay almost always at the door of the palefaces. Black Elk could not fail to feel resentful over the fact that the disgrace of his sons had been inflicted by members of that hated race. It was quite likely, therefore, that, repenting the magnanimity he had shown, he would try to visit his vengeance upon the two youths while they were yet within reach. The duty of our friends, therefore, was plain: they must lose no time in hurrying beyond danger. When Mul-tal-la was asked what the result would have been had the apparently honest invitation of Black Elk been accepted, the Blackfoot smiled. “My brothers would have been treated well for a time, but they would not have lived long.” “How would it have been with you?” asked George. “Mul-tal-la did not hurt Young Elk or the Antelope; his skin is of the same color as Black Elk’s. They are brothers.” This was another way of saying the Blackfoot had nothing to fear from the Shoshones. It was the boys who were in peril. Victor more than once was tempted to ask their companion the cause of his absence the night before, but refrained after speaking to George, who told him if Mul-tal-la wished he would give the information without questioning. If he did not, it was not tactful to bother him. The boys noted that the Blackfoot, from his place in front, occasionally turned his head and scanned the horizon, especially to the south and west. “That means that he doesn’t believe we are through with the Shoshones,” said Victor, when his brother commented upon the action. “If they intend any harm, I don’t see why they don’t follow us, without trying to hide from our sight. We can’t travel fast, and they wouldn’t have any trouble in overtaking us before we went many miles.” “That isn’t the Indian fashion of doing business.”