Who sends Death among you?
The White Chief (Whitman).

And why does the White Chief send among you Death, the robber, with his poison?
That he may possess your furs." "Then why do the white people themselves have the disease ?" asked a Cayuse.
None could answer.

The question had turned Joe Lewis's word against him, when a tall Indian arose and spread his blanket open like a wing.

He stood for a time silent, statuesque, and thoughtful.

The men waited seriously to hear what he would say.
It was the same Indian who had appeared at the mission after the joke of the plugged melons.
"Brothers, listen.