He had done much to get Lame Wolf
into the scrape and now was urging hateful measures as, unless they were
prepared for further and heavier losses, the one way out, and that way
was--surrender.
Now, this is almost the last thing the Indian will do. Not from fear of
consequences at the hands of his captors, for he well knows that,
physically, he is infinitely better off when being coddled by Uncle Sam
than when fighting in the field. It is simply the loss of _prestige_
among his fellow red men that he hates and dreads. Therefore, nothing
short of starvation or probable annihilation prompts him, as a rule, to
yield himself a prisoner. Stabber urged it rather than risk further
battle and further loss, but Stabber had long been jealous of the
younger chief, envied him his much larger following and his record as a
fighter, and Stabber, presumably, would be only too glad to see him
fallen from his high estate. They could then enjoy the hospitality of a
generous nation (a people of born fools, said the unreasoning and
unregenerate red man) all winter, and, when next they felt sufficiently
slighted to warrant another issue on the warpath, they could take the
field on equal terms. Lame Wolf, therefore, swore he'd fight to the
bitter end.
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