"A fool sometimes gives good counsel," was the warrior's repartee; "what you say is just. Let us come, then, to the real subject of this interview. I wait while you explain." "Why have you not reported to the palefaces the message with which I charged you for them?" "I am no more the slave of the whites than you." "And notwithstanding that warning, they continue to march in advance?" "You see it is so." "These men are mad." "They by no means share that opinion. More sensible than you, without fearing you, they do not scorn you." "Is it not the greatest insult they can offer us, to dare to invade our territory?" "They do not invade your territory." "You are a dog with a forked tongue. The palefaces have no occasion to traverse our country." "You have not the right to hinder the passage of peaceable citizens through your country." "If we have not that right, we take it. The Guaycurus are the only masters of these territories." "Listen to me," said Diogo, "that the truth may penetrate to your heart." "Speak; am I not here to listen to you?" "We have no intention of penetrating any further into your country; we only wish to pass." "Aha! And what do you call the country to which you are going?" pursued the chief. "The country of the Frentones." "The Frentones are the allies of my nation; to enter on their territory is to enter on ours. We will not suffer this violation. Go and rejoin him who has sent you, and tell him that Tarou Niom consents to allow him to go, on condition that he will immediately turn his horse's head towards the north." The captain remained unmoved. "Do you not understand me?" asked the warrior, with violence; "On that condition alone can you hope to escape, every one of you, from death or slavery. Go!" "It is useless," answered the captain; "the white chief will not consent to return before having definitively accomplished the object of his journey." "What interest induces this man to stake his life?" "I do not know; that is not my affair." "Good; so, notwithstanding all that I may say to him, he will continue to advance?" "I am convinced of it." "Very well, he shall die." "Is it, then, war that you desire?" "No, it is vengeance. The whites are not our enemies; they are wild beasts that we kill." "Take care, chief; the struggle between us will be serious, I warn you." "So much the better; it is a long time since my sons have met an enemy worthy of their courage." "This conversation is now useless; allow me to return to my people." "Go, then; I have no more, indeed, to say to you. Remember, that it is the obstinacy of your master that calls down upon his head the misfortunes that will fall upon it." "I thank you for the information; chief, I will profit by it, be sure of that," said Diogo, with irony. The Guaycurus smiled without answering, and, burying his spurs in the flanks of his horse, disappeared almost instantly in the high grass.