A HARD WON VICTORY
White Otter and his warriors approached within bowshot of the stream.
Then they sat upon their tired ponies, and stared silently across at
the Pawnees. The latter were in sight among the trees. They had driven
the captured ponies from the timber, and were herding them upon the
open plain. Less than a third of the company guarded them. The rest of
the Pawnees were watching along the bank of the stream.
"Perhaps those warriors will try to hold us back while their friends
get away with the ponies," Red Dog declared, suspiciously.
"I believe that is what they propose to do," said Black Moccasin.
"No, I do not believe it," White Otter told them. "Those ponies have
come a long ways. They have run fast. The Pawnees will let them rest.
When it gets dark perhaps they will try to take them away."
"I believe what White Otter says is true," declared Sun Bird.
The Pawnees had gained the advantage. White Otter realized that an
attempt to cross the stream might result in heavy loss. He determined
to wait until he had carefully studied the possibilities. Both the
Ogalalas and the Cheyennes, however, were eager to make an attack. The
Pawnees were jeering, and daring them to cross the stream.
"Hi, you Dacotahs, are you afraid to follow us through the water?"
some one called, mockingly. "You came here to help the Cheyennes. Why
are you holding back? Have we frightened you? Go back to your lodges
and sit with the old women. Perhaps they will tell you how to fight."
The taunt roused the Ogalalas into a frenzy. They were wild with rage.
Some of them rode recklessly to the edge of the stream. Many of the
Cheyennes followed them. White Otter warned them against attempting to
cross.
"Stop!" he cried. "The Pawnees are trying to catch you. Are you going
to throw away your lives? The Pawnees are like Zi-ca, the squirrel.
They make a big noise, but they hide behind the trees. They are
trying to make you mad. If you ride into the water, they will kill you
with their arrows. Come, my brothers, turn back. Shake the words of
the Pawnees from your ears."
The Ogalalas saw the wisdom of his words. They lingered a moment or
so, shouting boastful threats against the Pawnees. Then they turned
back. The Cheyennes accompanied them. The Pawnees laughed fiercely.
A moment afterward a ringing shout sounded farther along the stream.
The Pawnee scouts had crossed, a long distance to the eastward. They
were riding to join their tribesmen.
"Those Pawnees feel very brave," laughed White Otter.
The day was passing, and White Otter realized that he must decide upon
a plan of action. He left High Eagle and a small company of scouts to
watch the Pawnees, and then he led the war party beyond earshot of
their foes. He called a council and asked Running Crow to act as
interpreter.
"My friends, we must find out the best way to run off those ponies,"
he said. "When it gets dark we must be ready to do something. Now I
will tell you how I feel about it. I believe the Pawnees will try to
send away those ponies. They will try to fool us. We must be sharp. I
will tell you what I propose to do. If any of you feel different about
it, you must talk against it.
"Now, my brothers, listen sharp. I believe there is only one way to
get those ponies. When it gets dark we will send scouts along the
water. They must follow along the water until they find a good place
to go across. Then they must go across, and watch the Pawnees. If the
Pawnees try to run off the ponies, the scouts must make the signal.
After those scouts go away we will make two war parties. Our brothers,
the Cheyennes, will keep together. Red Dog will be the leader.
My people will keep together. I will be the leader. One war
party must stay here. One war party must go toward the
Place-where-the-day-begins. Then that war party must circle around and
cross over the water. Those warriors must run off the ponies. The war
party that stays here must go straight ahead to fight the Pawnees.
Then we will be on two sides of them. Now I have told you how I feel
about it."
"My brothers, you have heard the words of a great chief," said Red
Dog. "White Otter is the leader. I will do as he proposes to do. I
believe it is good."
"Cheyennes, I believe White Otter has told us the best way to fight
the Pawnees," said Running Crow.
"My friends, White Otter is a great war leader," declared Black
Moccasin. "He has led his people in many battles. If we do as he tells
us to do, I believe we will get back those ponies."
Many more warriors indorsed the plan of the Ogalala chief. No one
spoke against it. Having led them to a splendid victory over the
Kiowas, the Cheyennes felt confident that he would be equally
successful against the Pawnees.
"Well, my brothers, I see that there is no one to talk against this
thing--we will go ahead with it," White Otter told them. "Now I will
call out the names of the scouts who must go to watch the Pawnees. I
will call my brother Hollow Bear, and I will call Standing Bull.
Hollow Bear is an Ogalala. Standing Bull is a Cheyenne. Both of them
are great warriors. Now I will tell you about those war parties. I see
that there are more Ogalalas than Cheyennes. The Ogalalas must fight
the Pawnees. The Cheyennes must try to get the ponies. Come, Red Dog,
tell me how you feel about it."
"It is good," agreed Red Dog.
Having decided upon the plan of attack, the war party again approached
the stream. High Eagle and his companions said that the Pawnees had
made no attempt to leave the timber. White Otter felt sure that they,
too, were waiting to attempt some bold bit of stratagem under cover of
the night. The thought made him suspicious, and watchful. He saw
nothing which would give him a clew to the intentions of the Pawnees.
As the light slowly faded from the plain the Pawnees began to sing
their war songs and shout fierce threats against their enemies. The
Ogalalas and the Cheyennes listened in silence. The threatening flash
of their eyes, however, betrayed the wrath that blazed in their
hearts. They waited for darkness, and the opportunity to rush upon
their foes.
In the meantime Hollow Bear and Standing Bull had ridden away on their
perilous mission. They went a considerable distance toward the north
before they finally turned to the eastward. Then they made a wide
detour and approached the stream. They waited a long time at the edge
of the water, listening for sounds from their foes. As they heard
nothing to alarm them, they rode cautiously into the stream. They
reached the opposite side in safety, and moved out upon the plain.
Soon afterward Red Dog and his warriors arrived at the stream, an
arrow flight from the place where the scouts had crossed. They, too,
stopped to listen. All was quiet. The Cheyennes, however, waited
beside the water. They were listening for the signal which would warn
them that the Ogalalas had begun the fight.
"My brothers, the scouts have gone," White Otter told the Ogalalas. "I
believe they are across the water. Red Dog and his brothers have gone.
I believe they are waiting for the signal. Everything is ready. We
must begin the fight. I will ask you to be brave. Drive back the
Pawnees and get to the ponies. Red Dog and his warriors will come to
help us. Keep close around the ponies. Drive them across the water.
Are you ready?"
"Hi, hi!" cried the Ogalalas.
"Come!" shouted White Otter.
At that moment they heard the thunder of hoofbeats across the stream.
A piercing shout rang through the night. It was a warning from the
scouts. Then the wild yells of the Pawnees sounded from the edge of
the water. The Ogalalas realized what had happened.
"They are running off the ponies!" cried White Otter. "Follow me!"
The Ogalalas raised the great Dacotah war cry, and rode boldly into
the stream. They heard Red Dog and the Cheyennes farther to the
eastward. The Pawnees began to shoot their arrows. The Sioux sent a
volley into the timber. Then they lashed their ponies forward, and
charged recklessly upon their foes. The Pawnees held their ground, and
offered desperate resistance. The Sioux, however, were thoroughly
aroused, and they fought with a sullen ferocity that made them
irresistible. The Pawnees finally gave way, and raced across the plain
in pursuit of the ponies. The Ogalalas kept close behind them. They
heard the Cheyennes whooping fiercely, and they believed that they had
overtaken the herd.
"Hi, hi, the Cheyennes are making a big fight!" the Dacotahs cried,
excitedly.
When they were within arrow range of the ponies, the Pawnees turned
and fought savagely to hold them back. For a moment the Sioux were
halted. Then they rallied, and swept forward in a ferocious attack
that completely overcame their foes. A moment afterward they were at
the rear of the herd.
In the meantime Red Dog and his tribesmen had raced ahead of the
Pawnees, and were attempting to turn the ponies. Once at the front of
the herd, they rode wildly among the Pawnees and drove the frightened
ponies from their course. Whooping, and lashing furiously with their
heavy riding quirts, they gradually forced the ponies toward the east.
The Pawnees attacked them with great bravery, but the Cheyennes beat
them off. Then a company of Ogalalas raced along the flank of the herd
and came to the assistance of their allies.
"Turn the ponies--run them to the water!" they cried.
They soon gained control of the herd and raced the ponies toward the
stream. The Pawnees had no thought of yielding. Infuriated by the
success of their foes, they fought valiantly to regain possession of
the ponies.
"Hold them off, hold them off!" shouted White Otter.
While Red Dog and a company of Cheyennes rode ahead to drive aside
the Pawnees, the rest of the war party surrounded the herd. The
Pawnees found it impossible to reach the ponies. They rode close up to
their foes and fought with reckless courage, but each time they were
driven off.
"Hi, the Pawnees are brave," Sun Bird told White Otter.
"Yes, they are making a great fight," acknowledged White Otter.
When they finally reached the timber the ponies attempted to turn
aside, and in a moment the herd was thrown into wild confusion. The
Pawnees were quick to seize the opportunity. Yelling fiercely, they
dashed forward like a pack of mad wolves, and attempted to cause a
stampede.
"Come, Cheyennes, drive the ponies into the water!" cried White Otter.
"Ogalalas, hold back the Pawnees!"
Then the Sioux and the Pawnees fought a thrilling hand-to-hand
encounter, while the Cheyennes made frantic attempts to drive the
unruly ponies into the timber. Wild with panic, the frenzied beasts
plunged, and reared, and kicked in their efforts to break through the
circle of riders that surrounded them. At last the Cheyennes lashed
them into submission and drove them forward. They plunged down the
bank, and floundered wildly across the stream. Then the Cheyennes
raced them away into the north.
"Hi, my brothers, some of us must go back there, and help our
brothers, the Ogalalas," said Red Dog, when they were several arrow
flights from the stream.
Then they heard the Dacotah war cry ringing through the night. Soon
afterward White Otter and his gallant fighters overtook them. They
were in high spirits.
"Where are the Pawnees?" inquired Red Dog.
"They are running to their lodges," laughed White Otter.
"White Otter, you are a great chief," declared Red Dog. "The Ogalalas
are as brave as Ma-to-ho-ta, the bear. We will go to your village, and
tell your people what you have done. Yes, we will give some ponies to
your chief, Wolf Robe."
"It is good," replied White Otter.
Then he called Sun Bird and Little Raven to ride beside him. It was a
long time before he spoke.
"My brothers, we have done what we set out to do," he said, finally.
"It was a great fight. Many brave warriors were killed. I will not
talk about it. You were very brave. You have helped me to do a big
thing. Sun Bird, I saw you drive back many Pawnees. Yes, you were
always in the fight. Little Raven, I saw you fight off three Pawnees.
Yes, I saw you do some big things. My brothers, I will tell your great
chief Curly Horse about you. I will tell him that you did big things
to help my people."
"White Otter, your words make me feel good," said Sun Bird. "You came
to our lodges and went with us to fight the Blackfeet. Now we have
helped you fight the Pawnees. It is good. We are Dacotahs. A Dacotah
will fight for his brother."
"It is true," declared Little Raven.
THE END
End of Project Gutenberg's Three Sioux Scouts, by Elmer Russell Gregor