I obey the will of the prophets and of the nation." "But," answered I, "my Manitou will not hear me if I am a slave.

The Pale-face Manitou has ears only for free warriors.

He will not lend me his fires unless space and time be my own." The chief interrupted me:--"Owato Wanisha is not a slave, nor can he be one.

He is with his good friends, who will watch over him, light his fire, spread their finest blankets in his tent, and fill it with the best game of the prairie.

His friends love the young chief, but he must not escape from them, else the evil spirit would make the young Arrapahoes drunk as a beastly Crow, and excite them in their folly to kill the Pale-faces." As nothing could be attempted for the present, we submitted to our fate, and were conducted by a long and dreary journey to the eastern shores of the Rio Colorado of the West, until at last we arrived at one of the numerous and beautiful villages of the Arrapahoes.