Running Water gave a distrustful look, for Indians never allow that anyone does anything without a motive. "Then my brother is not going anywhere?" he continued. "Indeed no, I am letting my horse guide me." "Wah! My brother is very merry." "It is the case, I assure you; and the proof is that so soon as I leave you I shall turn back." The Indian reflected for a moment. "Will my brother consent to smoke the calumet at the fire of a chief?" "I do not see any obstacle. Indian hospitality is great; and my ride has given me an appetite which I shall not be sorry to appease." "Good; my brother will have no cause to complain of his friend. Let him follow, and he will soon be able to satisfy his hunger." "Go on then, chief, and I will walk in your footsteps." The Indian turned away, and re-entered the tall grass, where the hunter followed him without hesitation. Their march lasted but a few minutes, and they reached the camp of the Comanches, which was so well concealed among trees and bushes, that the Canadian might have passed close by and not noticed it. The Indians display extraordinary skill in the choice of their temporary encampments on the prairie; the most skilful hunter cannot compete with them in the cleverness with which they hide their presence, however large their numbers may be. Hence the camp which the Canadian now reached was composed of upwards of two hundred Indians, and yet nothing led him to suspect that he was so near them. A thing that greatly surprised the hunter was, that he noticed a considerable number of women and children in camp. The redskins rarely travel with their families, unless they are going to change their abode. The periods of these migrations is indicated beforehand, and the year was not sufficiently advanced for the Comanches to leave their winter village, or dare to venture so near the Spanish border. Still, as a good diplomatist, the Canadian, in spite of the suspicions that began to spring up in his mind, seemed to attach no importance to this unusual circumstance, and did not make the slightest allusion to a subject which would doubtless arouse the distrust of his suspicious hosts. The reception which the Comanches gave him was most cordial; Running Water especially, by all sorts of attentions, sought to make Clary forget the rather rough manner in which he had accosted him. The latter met the chief's advances halfway, and the most frank cordiality continued to preside over their chance meeting. When the breakfast, simple, like all Indian meals, and entirely composed of venison, was ended, the guests lit their pipes, and each began talking upon indifferent matters.