He
might last long enough in that disguise to discover things. But not with
Hauck watching him, for Hauck was four fifths sober, and there was a
depth to his cruel eyes which he did not like. He watched the effect of
his words on Brokaw. The tenseness left his body, his hands unclenched
slowly, his heavy jaw relaxed--and David laughed softly. He felt that he
was out of deep water now. This fellow, half filled with drink, was
wonderfully credulous. And he was sure that his watery eyes could not
see very well, though his ears had heard distinctly.
"She was looking at you, Brokaw--straight at you--when she said
good-night," he added.
"You sure--sure she said it to me, Mac?"
David nodded, even as his blood ran a little cold.
A leering grin of joy spread over Brokaw's face.
"The--the little devil!" he said, gloatingly.
"What does it mean?" David asked. "_Sakewawin_--I had never heard it."
He lied calmly, turning his head a bit out of the light.
Brokaw stared at him a moment before answering.
"When a girl says that--it means--_she belongs to you_," he said. "In
Indian it means--_possession_! Dam' ... of course you're right! She said
it to me. She's mine. She belongs to me. I own her. And I thought.
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