Page:Hendryx--Connie Morgan with the Mounted.djvu/77

Rh his momentary advantage, Connie again addressed them, his voice unconsciously falling into the oratorical swing he had heard at council fires beyond the Yukon.

"I am the medicine man of the white men. From beyond the mountains I come to conquer the Red Death." Slipping the revolver into its holster, he advanced until he faced the medicine man, and in his voice was no tremor of fear: "Your lips speak lies. Your heart is bad. Your medicine is no good. My medicine is strong. The Yellow Knives shall live. I have spoken."

At the words of the boy, the naked savage forgot for a moment the pain of his many burns and, drawing himself erect, addressed the Indians: "The white men have come to the land of the Yellow Knives. They have seen that the land is good. The lakes and the rivers are full of fish. The forest is full of game. There is much fur. They would take the land for their own. Death! Death to the Yellow Knives! The white men's medicine is strong. They call upon the Evil Spirits that dwell in the caves at the home of the South Wind. The Evil Spirits journey to the land of the Yellow Knives, and behold the hand of the