282 WALL STREET AND THE WILDS 



even if it meant war that would make the name of 

 Comanche forgotten on the plains. 



Before McCloskey had fully interpreted the 

 Commissioner's threat, Black Horse, with utter 

 lack of the decorum that obtains in Indian coun- 

 cils, sprang forward and with uplifted hand burst 

 into a flood of impassioned oratory: 



"Here are the men you want ! Why don't you 

 take them ? We will never give them up ! You 

 say it will be war if we refuse ! Then let it begin 

 now!" 



The declaration of war by Black Horse needed 

 no interpretation; it was written on the faces of 

 his hearers and the hand of many an Indian 

 sought his weapon. Life to me looked like a 

 matter of seconds only. Recalling Stillwell's 

 prediction, I glanced toward him. He had risen 

 from his seat and was leaning toward the window 

 through which he expected to leap, but his chance 

 of escape seemed next to nothing. I was un- 

 armed excepting for the little derringer in my 

 vest pocket which was useless save as it gave me 

 the grim chance of taking Lone Wolf with me on 



