human
Eh? Speak low, for the love of God!
gpt
Les Agniers, as you call them--but Iroquois for certain. The man, you see, is Canayan-- Menehwehna began coolly to handle the corpse.
human
He has been dead for hours, but not many hours. He lifted an arm and let it fall, after trying the rigidity of the muscles.
gpt
Not many hours,
human
And in the interval they have been tracking _us_, belike?
gpt
They may, indeed, have spied us coming from the cliffs above, answered Menehwehna unperturbed.
human
If so, they are watching us at this moment, and there is no escaping; but this we shall learn within twenty paces, since between the rocks here they have us at their will. You, O illustrious, they might suffer to promenade yourself for a while in the open, for the sake of better sport; with us, who are Ojibways, they would deal while yet they could be sure.
gpt
We had best make trial of this without delay, he added.
human
For if they fire the noise may reach the other two and warn Bateese, who is clever and may yet save himself.
gpt
What the devil care I for Bateese? snarled Barboux.
human
If they have tracked us, they have tracked all. I run no risks for a _bossu_ and a useless prisoner.
gpt
I did not say that they have tracked us. _Him_ they tracked beyond a doubt; and at the end he knew they were after him. See-- Again he lifted the arm of the corpse, and invited the sergeant to feel its shirt along the ribs and under the armpits.
human
See you how stiff it is; that is where the sweat has dried, and men sweat so when they are in a great hurry. Perhaps he was the last of his company, and they overtook him here. Now, see again--I tell you they have not been tracking us, and I will prove it. In the first place I am no fool, and if one--two--three men have tracked me close (it cannot be far) a day long without my knowing, it will be the first time in Menehwehna's life. But let that pass. See these marks; they overtook him here, and they did with him--so. But where is any mark on the path behind us? Look well; there is only one path and no trail in it at all, else I had not cried out as I did. No man has passed within less time than it takes the moss to grow. Very good; then whoever killed him followed him up from yonder, and here stopped and turned back--I think, in a hurry. To place the body so--that is an Iroquois trick when few and in a hurry; otherwise they take him away and do worse.
gpt
Iroquois? But _que diable!_ The Six Nations are at peace with us! Why on earth should the Iroquois meddle with this man, by the dress of him a _coureur de bois_?
human
And unarmed, too! pursued Menehwehna with fine irony,
gpt
That is simple. Any fresh track of men at the entrance, or close within it, would warn us back; therefore they would say, 'Let us climb to the ridge and watch, though it take longer.'
human
Good; now you talk with a clear head, and I have less fear for you. They may be aloft there, as you say, having drawn us into their trap. Yet I do not think it, for why should they be expecting us? It is now two days since you killed the moose. They could not have been near in a body to hear that shot fired, for it is hours since they overtook this man, following him up from the other slope. But a scout might have heard it and climbed across to warn them; yes, that is possible.