a conciliatory manner. They were inclined to heed his words; and, in
order to make it appear that he was not intimidated by their actions,
he went into camp, and invited these advance parties of the Indians to
come in and have a talk and smoke with him. The savages accepted the
invitation and were soon seated in a circle. After the pipe had passed
from one to the other, until all present had had a puff or two from
it, they began to talk loud among themselves.

At the time we now speak of, several years, as the reader can readily
compute, had elapsed since Kit Carson was a hunter at Bent's Fort, and
then well known to most of the Cheyenne nation; but, these few years
had so altered him, together with his new style of dress, that it is
no doubt that, at first, not one of the Indians remembered ever having
seen him before.

Kit Carson remained quiet and allowed the Indians to open the talk, as
he was watching to find out what had so suddenly aroused their anger,
and he well knew, that if they supposed that he and his men did not
understand what they were conversing about, they might refer to the
cause of the trouble, and thus give him a clue whereby he might take
advantage and form a line of conduct. It was clear to his mind that
the Indians were resolved to have revenge on his party, and that
there was time enough to let himself be known to them, which, in their
present excited state, would serve him but little. The Indians had
at first conversed in the Sioux tongue. The reason for this was, to
conceal their own nationality and thus, if necessary, in the future,
they could shield themselves by laying the massacre, which they were
about to commit, on the shoulders of that tribe. This is a ruse often
employed by the Indians; but, in this case, in their heated state they
forgot their native cunning and commenced conversing in the language