Cooper also stresses the importance of self-control. This is very evident in every meeting with the Tetons. In all of these meetings, Paul wishes to prove his manhood and fight the Indians without regard to the sanity of the notion. In one of these instances he says, "Siouxes or devils, they shall find us men!" (pg 37). But the trapper maintains his self-control and replies, "You've not the numbers to fight, foolish boy" (pg 37). When Paul loses his self-control, the trapper uses physical force to stop him, saving his life. Cooper also demonstrates self-control through Hard-Heart, who maintained his composure when he realized his tribe was coming. This control allowed him to time his escape properly and save his life. By controlling one's emotions, rash behavior can be prevented that can have serious consequences (death in these cases). A pharmacist has a lot of power in distributing drugs, so it is imperative that they have self-control. With the slip of a wrong pill into a prescription, suffering and/or death can come to those you hate. However, this would mean prison (a form of losing your life). Besides, who's going to buy their medicines from you if they could end up dead for making you mad?