Raoul's eyes stared death at White Bear. "Black Hawk's a damn liar. He's broken every treaty we ever made with you people. There's only one way to deal with your kind. If you can't be trusted to keep treaties, you have to be exterminated." He drew his pistol. "Starting here." _Bear spirit, walk with me on the Trail of Souls._ Little Crow said, "What do they say, White Bear? Are they going to kill us?" "It is our fate to have fallen into the hands of a bad man," said White Bear. Having to tell them hurt him all the more. It grieved him that these two good men must die along with him, their lives thrown away because of a bit of bad luck. "We were fools to come here," said Three Horses. "Not fools--braves," White Bear reassured him. "A man who gives his life to protect his people is never a fool. Whether or not he succeeds." "You _are_ a prophet, White Bear," said Little Crow. Raoul was staring at White Bear's chest. White Bear wondered if his heart was beating so hard that Raoul could see it hammering. "Look at those scars. Looks like a bear tried to get you a long time ago. Too bad he didn't finish you, would have saved me the trouble." White Bear would not talk about anything sacred with Raoul. He looked back at him silently. "Guess you don't know all there is to know about your nephew," Eli Greenglove laughed. "Don't call him my nephew!" Raoul shouted. White Bear saw some of Raoul's men exchange befuddled glances. "Well, whatever he is, I kind of think we ought to send him and these others back down the line. Let them palaver with the general. It ain't for us to decide." "What the hell do you mean?" Raoul thundered. The popping of rifle fire on the other side of Old Man's Creek cut short the argument. White Bear turned to look. A moment later Perrault, his horse's legs dripping creek water, came pounding up. "You were right, mon colonel," he panted. "Those woods are full of Indians. They were sneaking up on the camp." "These three were supposed to distract us with peace talk while the others snuck up on us," Raoul shouted to his men. "First we'll shoot these Indians. Then we'll hunt down the rest of them." "It wasn't an ambush!" White Bear cried. "There were only five of them, and they were just there to see what happened to us." "Well, why didn't you tell us they were out there?" Raoul said, smiling. "We'd have invited them in for a whiskey." The coonskin-capped men standing near him guffawed. Raoul's lips stretched in a grimace. "Eli, Armand, let's shoot these three redskins." Greenglove said, "Raoul--Colonel--I still say you ought to think this over." "Shut up and do what I say!" Raoul growled. "I want to get this done and ride after those other Indians." Men were running for their horses and leaping into the saddle brandishing rifles. Without leaders or orders, they rode off across the creek with drunken whoops in the direction Armand had pointed out.