"The Young Otter is from the West," replied the Indian. "The old men have told him of the Gray Badger, who has lived the life of a snake, and who has hunted with the fathers of those who are now old. Does my father live with the white man?" "He lives with the white man," replied Malachi; "he has no Indian blood in his veins." "Has the white man many in his lodge?" said the Indian. "Yes; many young men and many rifles," replied Malachi. The Indian did not continue this conversation, and there was a silence of some minutes. Malachi was convinced that the young Indian had been sent to intimate that Percival was alive and in captivity, and he resolved to wait patiently till he brought up the subject. "Does not the cold kill the white man?" said the Indian, at last. "No; the white man can bear the winter's ice as well as an Indian. He hunts as well, and brings home venison." "Are all who came here with him now in the white man's lodge?" "No, not all; one white child slept in the snow, and is in the land of spirits," replied Malachi. Here there was a pause in the conversation for some minutes; at last the young Indian said-- "A little bird sang in my ear, and it said, The white man's child is not dead; it wandered about in the woods and was lost, and the Indian found him, and took him to his wigwam in the far west." "Did not the little bird lie to the Young Otter?" replied Malachi. "No; the little bird sang what was true," replied the Indian. "The white boy is alive and in the lodge of the Indian." "There are many white men in the country who have children," replied Malachi; "and children are often lost. The little bird may have sung of the child of some other white man." "The white boy had a rifle in his hand and snow-shoes on his feet." "So have all they who go out to hunt in the winter's snow," replied Malachi. "But the white boy was found near to the white man's lodge." "Then why was not the boy taken back to the white man by the Indians who found him?" "They were going to their own wigwams and could not turn aside; besides, they feared to come near to the white man's lodge after the sun was down; as my father says he has many young men and many rifles." "But the white man does not raise his rifle against the Indian, whether he comes by day or by night," replied Malachi. "At night he kills the prowling wolf when he comes near to the lodge." The Indian again stopped and was silent. He knew by the words of Malachi that the wolf's skin, with which the Indian had been covered when he was crawling to the palisades and had been shot by John, had been discovered. Malachi after a while renewed the conversation. "Is the Young Otter of a near tribe?" "The lodges of our tribe are twelve days' journey to the westward," replied the Indian. "The chief of the Young Otter's band is a great warrior?" "He is," replied the Indian.