But such insults often occurred during their journey, and the prisoners
were even fettered when at last they reached Quebec.
Here for a long time they sighed to breathe the invigorating air of the
prairies; to chase the buffalo; to celebrate the war dance. But when
should they join again in the ceremonies of their tribe? When? Alas!
they could not even ask their jailer when; or if they had, he would only
have laughed at the strange dialect that he could not comprehend. But
the Dahcotahs bore with patience their unmerited confinement, and
Wabashaw excelled them all. His eye was not as bright as when he left
home, and there was an unusual weakness in his limbs--but never should
his enemies know that he suffered. And when those high in authority
visited the prisoners, the haughty dignity of Wabashaw made them feel
that the Dahcotah warrior was a man to be respected.
But freedom came at last. The murderers were given up; and an
interpreter in the prison told Wabashaw that he was no longer a
prisoner; that he would soon again see the Father of many waters; and
that more, he had been made by the English a chief, the first chief of
the Dahcotahs.
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