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Strong Heart began eating the soup again, needing his fill now, for he was not planning to stop for anything until he reached the outskirts of Seattle His plans for Four Winds were several sunrises away He had other chores to do before freeing his friend from the cruel clutches of the law

Moon Elk studied his son for aHeart had said It was like seeing himself in the o when he could boast of being his son’s age of twenty-nine winters Moon Elk had begun to shrink with age, so he was no longer as tall as his son Strong Heart washis Suquamish people, and most whites

And not only was his son tall, he was powerfully built, broad shouldered, thin flanked, and lithe His light copper-colored skin was smooth, with muscles that rippled beneath the flesh He wore his dark brown hair long and loose, past his shoulders, and his gray eyes held strength and intelligence in their depths

Ah-hah, Moon Elk thought proudly, there was a steel-like quality about his son

His son was a e

“My son, not only will the color of your skin give away your true identity, but also your dignified gracefulness You are a noble man who towers over the white man,” Moon Elk said “This can perhaps betray your plans, nity of my son, nor carries within their hearts such compassion”

Moon Elk leaned closer to Strong Heart and peered into his eyes “My son, is Four Winds worth risking your life for? The world would be void of a reater man should you die”

Strong Heart was unmoved by his father’s steady stare, or his words “Even now I a platform for my friend, Four Winds,” he said flatly “My friend will not die with a noose around his neck Do you not recall his dignity, Father? Being caged and awaiting his death, his dignity has been taken from him And I see his life as no less valuable than mine I will set him free, Father And do not fear for my safety I have faced worse odds in my lifetime than a cultus, worthless sheriff, who is blinded by the power he feels by caging e a bird for entertained, and put on display in a white man’s circus!”

“Such a bitterness I hear in your voice,” Moon Elk said, shaking his head sadly “Nohen the autumn salmon harvest is near, and when your heart should be happy and your very soul should be filled with song, you are filled with bitterness over another man’s misfortunes That is me-sah-chie, bad, my son! Me-sah-chie! ”

“Ah-hah, it is regrettable, yet is it not as regrettable that Four Winds was arrested unjustly?” Strong Heart said, setting his empty bowl aside “You, as well as I, know his innocence Although we have lost touch these past moons after his Suquamish clan moved north to Canada’s shores, I know that his heart remains the sa and stealing! Never!”

“Who can say what drives a man, even to insanity?” Moon Elk rumbled “The same could apply to a man who takes up the ways of a cris to become who they are As I recall hi man You did not also see this, my son?”

Strong Heart arched an eyebrow and fell deep into thought as he peered into the flas about his friend Four Winds froood Some me-sah-chie, bad

Strong Heart had overlooked the bad, for Four Winds’s goodness had always outweighed his shortcos