"My brother, Loyal Heart has spoken well," said he; "his years are few in number, but his wisdom is great. We are happy to find an opportunity of proving our friendship for him; we seize it with eagerness. We will do what he desires." "Thank you!" Loyal Heart replied warmly; "thank you, my brothers! The Comanche nation is a great and noble nation, which I love; I am proud of having been adopted by it." The council broke up, and the chiefs left the lodge. The prisoners, collected in a group, were strictly guarded by a detachment of warriors. The public crier called together all the members of the tribe, and the hunters dispersed about the village. When all were assembled, Eagle Head arose to speak, and, addressing the pirates, said-- "Dogs of palefaces, the council of the great chiefs of the powerful nation of the Comanches, whose vast hunting grounds cover a great part of the earth, has pronounced your fate. Try, after having lived like wild beasts, not to die like timid old women; be brave, and then, perhaps, the Master of Life will have pity on you, and will receive you after death into the eskennane,--that place of delights where the brave who have looked death in the face hunt during eternity." "We are ready," replied Frank, unmoved; "fasten us to the stakes, invent the most atrocious tortures; you will not see us blench." "Our brother, Loyal Heart," the chief continued, "has interceded for you. You will not be fastened to the stake; the chiefs leave to yourselves the choice of your death." Then was awakened that characteristic trait in the manners of the whites, who, inhabiting the prairies for any length of time, end by forsaking the customs of their ancestors, and adopt those of the Indians. The proposition made by Eagle Head was revolting to the pride of the pirates. "By what right," Frank cried, "does Loyal Heart intercede for us? Does he fancy that we are not men? that tortures will be able to draw from us cries and complaints unworthy of us? No! no! lead us to punishment; whatever you can inflict upon us will not be so cruel as what we make the warriors of your nation undergo when they fall into our hands." At these insulting words a sensation of anger pervaded the ranks of the Indians, whilst the pirates, on the contrary, uttered cries of joy and triumph. "Dogs! rabbits!" they shouted; "Comanche warriors are old women, who ought to wear petticoats!" Loyal Heart advanced, and silence was re-established. "You have wrongly understood the words of the chief," he said; "in leaving you the choice of your death, it was not an insult, but a mark of respect that he paid you. Here is my dagger; you shall be unbound, let it pass from hand to hand, and be buried in all your hearts in turn. The man who is free, and without hesitation kills himself at a single blow, is braver than he who, fastened to the stake of torture, and unable to endure the pain, insults his executioner in order to receive a prompt death."