In this way, the turtledove tribe made a home in this strange valley.

After about a month, according to the information explored by the people of the banners, the turtledove had a vague idea of the surrounding geography in his mind.

This is supposed to be a place on the border between Mexico and Texas, and the river ahead, if nothing else, should be the Péques River, or perhaps the Grande River, and the turtledove is not entirely sure.

But it doesn't matter.

By and large, the situation was stable at this time.

The conflict between Mexico and the United States has not completely worsened, but perhaps it may be the reason why the United States has not yet gathered strength.

And the Lone Star Republic, which has a red heart towards the United States, has not yet received enough price and does not plan to sell itself for the time being.

In such a three-way zone, if you are at ease to survive, the turtledove tribe can be happy for several years.

With his stammering English, Turtledove was finally able to communicate with the blind white man.

Only then did I know that the guy's name was Mike, and his full name was 'Mike Miles'!

Mike always thought that the turtledove was a Russian, and he was blind and could not see, but he had a good opinion of the Russians, and he said that when he returned to Mississippi in the future, he must propose to the governor that the Russians are the true friends of the Americans.

Mike talks a lot to the turtledove, from the militia in Virginia to the black monkeys on the plantation, which often makes the turtledove laugh.

Their common topic of interest was to curse the French together.

At one point, the turtledove said it was strange: "Haven't the French always supported you?" You should hate the British, right? ”

"Hey, Brother Vladimir! You don't understand the French at all, and it is because of their support that we have failed many times! Mike said.

"Why?"

"Because the French will always surrender before us!" Mike laughed.

It was in this kind of communication that Ikaruga improved his English by leaps and bounds.

Not only turtledoves, but also several people in the tribe can now speak a few words of English.

……

When the autumn leaves fell, the eight banner lords came to the turtledove's big house in unison.

"Sir, winter is coming, how are we going to spend it next?"

The kang had already burned in the turtledove's house, and the room was a little hot.

But he knew that the banner owners were right, winter was coming soon.

"So what do you think?" Turtledove asked.

The parrot is the owner of the white flag, and because it can speak many languages, it is very popular with turtledoves.

So he said, "Sir, I think we should exchange some clothes with the other tribes. ”

"Yes, sir!" Another banner owner said: "There is no shortage of food in the tribe, and the accommodation is very good, compared to before, this place is like paradise." However, when we get to winter, we can't go hunting naked, right? ”

The banner owner's name was Four-legged Serpent, and he was wrapped in a bloodstained deerskin on his lower body, but he wore nothing on his upper body.

It's not that he doesn't want to wear it, it's that he doesn't have to.

Deerskin is very precious, if he weren't the banner owner, I'm afraid he would have to be as clean as the flag slave under his command!

"Where is the closest tribe to here?" Turtledove asked.

"There's a group of Mescalero people to the north, and I think we can send someone to see it." Parrots are recommended to.

The turtledove jumped off the kang and crouched in front of a stone slab in the corner.

The flag owners all gathered around.

On the stone slab is a simple map drawn by a turtledove, with different colored lines identifying peaks and rivers.

"Where are the Mescaliero people?" Turtledove asked.

"Here!" A furry arm points to a place on the map.

The turtledove looked at it, about two mountains away from his tribe.

"Are they easy to talk to?" Turtledove asked.

"I don't know." Several flag owners shook their heads. "But, sir, sooner or later we will be in contact with the other tribes. And, the woman of Mescaliero, who looks like one, hey! ”

The turtledove looked up at the guy named 'Yanba', who had found the salty soil in the cave, so he renamed himself 'Yanba'.

The turtledoves finally knew why these people wanted to communicate with other tribes.

It's not because of the arrival of winter at all.

But because everyone was better off and could eat two meals a day, they began to think about the women of other tribes.

Ikaruga thought for a moment and agreed to the proposal of the eight banner masters.

In fact, he has been thinking about how to get in touch with other tribes recently.

It's impossible to stay still in this valley all the time.

He was a traverser, and no one knew better than he the dangers of the Indians.

Don't look at the mountains and rivers here, but there will be a white slave catcher at any time.

It's okay to say once or twice, but what about three or four times?

The white army will only grow.

No matter how good his marksmanship is, he can't resist the attack of the white army.

"Parrot, this task is up to you!" Turtledove said. "You go and get in touch with them, you don't necessarily have to buy anything, you have to listen to some information first, and then come back."

"Yes, sir!" The parrot was overjoyed.

The shared woman in the tribe hadn't had his turn for a long time, but he couldn't hold it back, and he wanted to go out for a walk.

"What kind of information do you need, sir?" The parrot asked.

"For example, what is the situation out there now, who is fighting whom, who is winning and who is losing, how many people are in that Mei tribe, what are the abundant crops, whether their tribe is rich or not, and what is the name of the chief...... And so on and so forth. The turtledove explained, and in short, he brought back whatever news he could hear.

The parrot felt that this task was too easy.

Another topic of the Eight Banners meeting was to discuss what the tribe should plant next spring.

Five banner owners proposed to plant corn, three banner owners wanted to plant peppers, and four banner owners proposed to plant cotton......

The location of the turtledove tribe is quite good, and there is a large flat area in the col, where the sun is abundant, and a small stream passes by it.

It would be a shame not to plant something.

After listening carefully to everyone's opinions, Ikaruga said that he would plant mulberry in that open space next year!

As soon as I heard that I was going to plant a big mulberry, the eyes of the flag owner of the miscellaneous yellow flag were lit up!

Since settling in this valley, the smoke man has always been sick, and he has no energy to do anything. Even his own camp was kept in a mess, and he didn't bother to fix the leaking rain everywhere.

For the first time, the turtledove had seen a light in his eyes.

"Smoke man, I'll leave this matter to you, okay?" Turtledove asked.

"Absolutely! A must! The cigarette man replied with an oath, revealing a mouth full of big yellow teeth.