Only five minutes; but under such circumstances five minutes seem a long time. Intschu-Tschuna lay on the ground, and Winnetou beside him, both bound. Not an Apache had escaped, for none of the brave fellows had once thought of deserting his chief and making off through the darkness. Many of them were wounded, as were some of the Kiowas, of whom three were killed and five Apaches, which was exactly what we had hoped to avoid, but they had made such fierce resistance that the Kiowas had drawn their knives. The besieging party was all bound, and now came the question of disposing of the prisoners. I wanted to make it as easy for them as possible, but Tangua, the Kiowa chief, said imperatively: “These dogs are ours, not yours, and I will decide what is to be done with them. I would take them to our village, but we don’t want to be long on the way, for their people might overtake us, and we have far to go. We will put them to death by torture here.”
“I think you make a mistake,” I remarked.
“In saying they belong to you. That is false.”
“No; by the laws of the West a prisoner belongs to his captor. Take the Apaches you captured, but those we captured belong to us.”
“Uff! uff! how wise you speak! So you want to keep Intschu-Tschuna and Winnetou. But what if I won’t allow it?”
He spoke angrily, but I answered him gently, though firmly. He drew his knife, thrust it into the earth up to the handle, and said with flashing eyes: “If you lay a hand on a single Apache your body shall be like this earth in which my knife stands. I have spoken. How!”
This was said in deadly earnest; but I would have shown him that I was not afraid of him if Sam Hawkins had not given me a warning glance which kept me silent.
The captive Apaches lay around the fire, and it would have been easier to leave them there where they could be watched with no trouble, but Tangua wanted to show me they were really his property to do with as he pleased, and ordered them tied to the trees near by. This was done, and none too tenderly, the two chiefs being treated most roughly, and their fetters drawn so tight as to make the blood burst from the swollen flesh. It was absolutely impossible for a prisoner to break away and escape unaided, and Tangua set guards around the camp to prevent rescue.