Page:The life and adventures of James P. Beckwourth, mountaineer, scout, pioneer, and chief of the Crow nation of Indians (IA lifeadventuresof00beckrich).pdf/267

Rh the road, one young As-ne-boine, whom they declared to be a fool, attempted to shoot me, but the others interfered to prevent him, and were sorry for what he had done. This was no deliberate treachery; it was the folly of the young man, and the party showed their friendly intention by their prompt interference. Do not allow this to make any difficulty in the way of a peace with the As-ne-boines."

My obligation to the Fur Company made it my duty to smooth the matter over, for at this moment the slightest whisper from me would have sufficed to hack the whole deputation to pieces in a moment.

The council held a short consultation together, and the first councillor arose and thus addressed himself to the chief of the As-ne-boines:

"As-ne-boines! you behold that chief (pointing to me)? Our women and all our warriors carry him here (holding out his left hand and indicating the palm with a finger of his right hand); he is our chief; he is our great chief; he and his brother (Long Hair), who sits by him, are the two great chiefs of our nation. It is he who has made us great and powerful; it is he who has rendered us the terror of other nations; it is he who, by living with his white friends for many winters, and knowing them all, has brought us guns and ammunition, and taught our young men how to use them. It is he who has built us a fort, where we can at all times go and buy everything we require. He loves the white man, and has made all the whites to love us. We fight for the whites, and kill their enemies, because they are friends of our chief. If you had killed him, our nation would have mourned in blood.

"Listen, As-ne-boines! If you had killed our chief, our whole nation would have made war on you, and we would have put out your last fire, and have killed the last man of your nation. We would have taken possession of your hunting-grounds; our women would have become warriors against you; we would have hunted you as we hunt the wild beasts. Now go! we will not harm you. Go! We will sleep to-night; but we will not make peace until we sleep, and our hearts have considered upon it. Come to us again when your hearts are clean: they are foul now; and when you come, you