Because First Rider was watching Stuart closely, he witnessed the man cheat at the card games, even those that continued on into the night. Stuart's behavior here became like a marker of the man's snake-like personality, and First Rider took careful note of it.
As the night wore on, First Rider observed Stuart's reptile-like, condescending and uncaring attitude toward the other men. It seemed to give the man an advantage over the others.
Why did these men tolerate Stuart's superior attitude toward them?
Was it because of the man's clean-shaven appearance? Was this the reason why the other men seemed unaware of Stuart's criminal intent toward them? Particularly apparent was Stuart's ready smile, as well as his cultured voice, smooth and pleasantly accented. These and other attitudes gave away Stuart's true intentions. At least this was evident to First Rider.
Indeed, there he sat, a weasel in men's clothing, cheating the other men out of what they owned: blankets, coats, shirts, pants, rifles and the ammunition for them, boots, food, tobacco and a good amount of mining equipment, including Golding pans and shovels. He had even accumulated a stack of gold and silver coins. As slick as an eel, Stuart sidestepped brawls and even appeared to be a peacemaker.
Yet, First Rider had watched on more than one occasion when Stuart had plied his opponents with whisky, going on to add the white, spirit-stealing powder to their drinks. And, as Stuart won more and more of the other white men's treasures, it became evident to First Rider that Stuart was looking to soon be moving along. Perhaps he feared his opponents might become aware of his duplicity.
Silently, with little more than abbreviated signs, First Rider asked his companions for a council in order to discuss what they had seen here and what their next plan of actionshould be. Again, using only signs, they all agreed to it. But, it would be held within their camp, pitched as it was within a naturally clean forest of fragrantly scented pines.
Because their camp was situated some distance away from the common brawls of the Sun River settlement, and since they had constructed their shelters to appear to be a deadfall of leaves within the forested environment, First Rider was fairly confident their council would be held privately. But, because there could be unseen—and enemy—scouts attached to this tiny settlement, they all three elected to hold the meeting silently…no talking and no signs; mind-to-mind only.
Even low-pitched voices or movement could carry to an alert scout, whose duty was to gather information and report it back to his chiefs. Often the safety of an entire tribe rested on the scout's sacred word, as well as his alertness and attention to detail.
And so, it was agreed. As soon as they returned to camp, they would counsel together.
As First Rider and the others scooted back across the tall prairie grass and into their hiding place outside the establishment, he looked for his woman, finding her asleep. He smiled, pleased to know she had been able to rest. Gently, he picked her up from where she lay, his touch light upon her so as not to awaken her. And, allowing his friends to help him up onto the seat of his pony, he settled her before him, keeping his arms around her. Then, gently, he nudged his faithful buffalo pony into a walk.
