e._

The old shaman came out with a long-stemmed pipe. He filled and lit it
with a twig from the fire in his wickiup and smoked thoughtfully for a
while before speaking. White Bear, sensing that Owl Carver had something
important to say to him, waited quietly.

"We need to know more about the pale eyes than we can learn from that
time-teller," Owl Carver said. "We need to know what they will do if we
cross the Great River to Saukenuk next spring."

White Bear felt his heartbeat quicken.

"Is that what Black Hawk plans?"

"If he can get enough Sauk and Fox warriors and their families to follow
him. At the council all the chiefs will hear Black Hawk. The Winnebago
Prophet, Flying Cloud, is coming to the council from his town up the
Rock River. He will add his voice to Black Hawk's. But the chiefs will
also hear the snake's voice of He Who Moves Alertly." He spat
contemptuously.

White Bear knew well why Owl Carver despised He Who Moves Alertly.
During what the pale eyes called the War of 1812, while Black Hawk and
his warriors were away fighting on the British side, the civil chiefs
had appointed He Who Moves Alertly a war chief in case the Americans
should attack the Sauk towns on the Great River. Not only had the new
war chief never fought, he spoke much of the need to make peace with the
Americans. He had about as many followers among the Sauk and Fox as
Black Hawk did, people who believed that the tribes would fare best if
they did whatever the pale eyes demanded. After the war He Who Moves
Alertly was quick to make himself known to the Americans as a friend. In
turn the long knives' chiefs showered him with gifts and honors, even
taking him and his wives to Washington City to visit the Great Father,
James Monroe. He had, in fact, been in the East when Star Arrow had come
to Saukenuk to take White Bear to Victoire.

"Why does He Who Moves Alertly say we should not go back to Saukenuk?"
White Bear asked cautiously. He did not want to anger Owl Carver by
saying so, but he himself was sure that crossing the Great River could
only lead to calamity.

Owl Carver said, "He Who Moves Alertly has always been a friend to the
long knives, and they treat him as if he was a great chief and give
presents to him. Last summer, when we went to plant corn at Saukenuk, he
went among Black Hawk's followers and persuaded many of them to flee
back across the river." The old shaman smiled at White Bear. "But now we
have you, who h