antage, in the winter.

So two Indians were sent forward with a flag of truce, to say that the
Sitting Bull people were hungry and tired, and to propose a peace talk.
The white chief said that there was a higher chief at the mouth of the
Tongue River, with whom they must talk, but he sent them some bread and
bacon.

Sitting Bull and Chief Gall, Low Neck, Pretty Bull and the others did
not go to find the white commanding chief; they continued on, and in a
few days the American commander caught up with them, himself, north of
the Yellowstone.

He agreed to meet Sitting Bull between the lines, for a talk. They
each took six men. The white chief was Colonel Nelson A. Miles. He
had only about four hundred soldiers, and one cannon. Sitting Bull had
one thousand warriors, and was not afraid.

"What are all these soldiers doing in this country?" he demanded. "Why
don't they stay in their forts, where they belong? It is time they
went there, for the winter."

"The soldiers are in this country to bring you and your men out and put
them on the reservation," replied Colonel Miles. "We do not wish war.
But if you insist on war, then you will be shut up. You cannot roam
about over the country, and cause trouble."

"This country belongs to the Indian and not to the white man," retorted
Sitting Bull. "We want nothing to do with the white man. We want the
white man to go away, and leave us alone. No white man ever lived who
loved an Indian, and no true Indian ever lived that did not hate the
white man. God Almighty made me an Indian. He did not make me an
agency Indian, and I'll fight and die fighting before any white man can
make me an agency Indian. How did you know where I was to be found?"

"I not only knew where you were, but I know where you came from and
where you're going," asserted Colonel Miles.

"Where am I going?"

"You intend to remain here three days, and then move to the Big Dry and
hunt buffalo."

This showed Sitting Bull that he had been betrayed by spies. He flared
into a rage, and his words were hot. He hated the whites; he had a
thousand warriors at his back, and his power was great.

He would make peace, but only if all the white men got out of the
country. There must be no forts or roads or towns. He wanted no
presents of food or clothing from the United States. If the United
States would leave a few trading posts, he would trade for powder and
flour, but he would live free, to do a