AWAY INTO THE NORTH
As White Otter and Sun Bird came from the lodge at dawn they found a boy
waiting with a fiery little piebald pony.
"Curly Horse has sent you this pony," said the lad, as he passed the
lariat to White Otter.
"Tell the great chief Curly Horse that White Otter feels good about this
thing," said the Ogalala.
"I know that pony," Sun Bird told him. "It is very fast, but it is very
wild. You must watch out for it."
"I will ride it," White Otter assured him.
He was no sooner upon its back, however, than the hot-tempered little
beast began to rear and plunge in a manner that would have proved
disastrous to a less expert rider. White Otter, however, refused to be
thrown, and Sun Bird whooped with boyish glee as he capered wildly about
the rearing pony and shouted encouragement to his friend. His shouts
soon brought an appreciative audience from the lodges, and White Otter
realized that his reputation as a horseman was at stake. He set his
sinewy thighs more closely behind the shoulders of the plunging piebald,
and pulled hard on the lariat which was twisted about the animal's lower
jaw. The Minneconjoux soon saw that he was an expert, and they offered
neither criticism nor advice. They watched with flashing eyes as horse
and rider fought for supremacy. Then the pony suddenly whirled about and
dashed among them, and they scattered like a covey of frightened quail
to avoid the flying hoofs. The piebald bucked its way through the center
of the camp, with a great company of men and boys racing along behind it
and yelling at the top of their voices. Some women were broiling meat
near the end of the village, and as they heard the wild commotion, and
saw the pony racing directly toward them, they fled to the lodges in a
panic, crying out that the Blackfeet had invaded the camp.
In the meantime the piebald had collided with a number of other
high-spirited ponies which were tied before the lodges of their owners,
and several of the animals broke loose and imitated the mad antics of
the piebald. In a few moments the entire camp was in an uproar. The
barking of the dogs, the shouts of the men, the screams of the women,
and the frightened cries of the children mingled in one great din which
turned the village into bedlam.
"It is bad," cried Curly Horse, as he watched the disorder from the
entrance to his lodge. "Some Evil Spirit must have gone into that
horse."
The piebald, however, had finally exhausted itself. It stood upon
trembling legs at the edge of the camp, with its head lowered in defeat.
White Otter reached over, and gently stroked the sweaty neck. Then he
raised its head and spoke sharply, and the piebald gave obedience to its
master. He rode directly to the lodge of Curly Horse.
"That is a bad horse," said Curly Horse. "I will give you another pony."
"No, no!" cried White Otter. "I will keep this pony. It is fast, and
strong. It will make a great war pony."
"Well, I see that you can ride it, so I will say no more about it,"
replied Curly Horse.
The wild escapade of the little piebald had aroused the camp, and as the
members of the war party finally rounded up the loose ponies, and
assembled in the center of the village, the entire tribe gathered to
witness the departure. When the gallant company was ready to leave,
Curly Horse came forward to address them.
"My brothers, you are about to ride away to the great Blackfeet camp,"
he said. "Before you lies a long and dangerous trail. We have many
enemies in that country. The Blackfeet are the strongest. They are very
sly. You must be as brave as great Matohota, the bear, and as cunning as
Tokala, the little gray fox. I see many brave warriors among you. I see
Sun Bird, your leader. He is a great warrior. I see White Otter, the
great Ogalala chief. I see Little Raven. He is very young, but he has
done big things. I see Short Bear. He is very brave. I see Feather Dog.
He is a great scout. I see Lean Wolf and Sitting Eagle. They have been
on many war trails. I see many more brave warriors. It is a great war
party. I believe you will do what you are setting out to do. I believe
you will bring back many ponies. I will ask Wakantunka, the Great
Mystery, to help you. I will ask our brother, Huya, the great war bird,
to lead you to the Blackfeet camp. Go, my brothers, Curly Horse has
spoken."
"Curly Horse, you have given us big words," replied Sun Bird. "We will
keep them in our hearts. We will remember that we are Dacotahs. It is
enough. We will go."
A few moments afterward the war party rode from the village. Many of the
older warriors who were remaining behind to guard the camp accompanied
the war party some distance across the plain. The old men, the boys, and
the women and children gathered at the edge of the camp, singing the war
songs, and calling upon Wakantunka to protect their warriors from the
fierce and warlike Blackfeet.
Sun Bird asked White Otter to ride with him at the head of the company.
The youthful Minneconjoux war leader fully realized his responsibility,
and he was glad to have the aid and counsel of the famous young war
chief whom he had asked to accompany him.
The war party was not a large one. It contained less than a third of the
fighting men of the tribe. The Minneconjoux feared to send a larger
force from the village, for they knew that their old enemies, the Crows,
as well as several scouting parties of Blackfeet, had recently been seen
within a day's travel of the Minneconjoux camp. They determined,
therefore, to send a small force of picked warriors against the
Blackfeet in the hope of recovering the stolen ponies, and learning the
fate of the young Minneconjoux who had been carried away. The company
chosen for the perilous undertaking was composed mostly of young
warriors famous for their courage and fighting ability, and a few older
veterans, like Lean Wolf and Sitting Eagle, whose mature judgment would
check the reckless impetuosity of their younger companions.
"Well, my brother, how do you feel about this thing?" Sun Bird suddenly
asked White Otter, as they cantered along in advance of the war party.
"The Blackfeet are very strong," White Otter replied, thoughtfully.
"Wolf Robe, my grandfather, has told me about them. I have never fought
those people. Wolf Robe says that they are braver than the Pawnees. Do
you know about them?"
"Yes, I have fought against them many times," Sun Bird told him. "They
are the enemies of my people. They are brave. Many Buffaloes is their
chief. He is a great warrior. He rides a mysterious war pony. It is as
swift as the wind, and as black as the night. Its eyes shine like the
little lights up there in the High Place. My people believe it must be a
Medicine Pony. Curly Horse would give many good presents for that pony."
At that moment their talk was interrupted by the appearance of a golden
eagle, the war bird of the Dacotahs, which was circling slowly some
distance toward the north. The superstitious Minneconjoux immediately
accepted it as a good omen, as they recalled the words of Curly Horse,
their chief.
"See, there is Huya, the great war bird," they cried. "Curly Horse has
sent him to lead us to the Blackfeet camp. Come, Huya, our brother, look
about you, and show us where our enemies are hiding."
The eagle, however, soon disappeared into the clouds, and the
Minneconjoux cried, "Huya has gone up there to look around. He is
looking for the Blackfeet. When he sees them he will fly over them, and
show us where they are."
As they moved farther from the camp Sun Bird began to take precautions
against the possibility of encountering foes. Two scouts were detailed
on either flank of the war party, and other riders dropped back to guard
the rear. Sun Bird, White Otter and Little Raven rode some distance in
front. Thus the courageous band of Dacotahs made their way across the
great plain that extended for unknown leagues into the northward, the
stronghold of the mighty Blackfeet nation.
The day was two thirds gone when White Otter suddenly discovered a
horseman on the summit of a low ridge far away toward the west. He
immediately stopped and showed him to Sun Bird and Little Raven.
Apparently aware that he had been seen, the distant rider began to ride
rapidly in a circle. It was the signal for danger. Sun Bird appeared
alarmed.
"It is one of our scouts," he said, uneasily. "Running Dog and Lean Wolf
went that way. That man is far away, but I believe he is Lean Wolf. He
has seen something bad. Come, Little Raven, go and find out about it."
As Little Raven raced away to meet the scout, the main company of riders
came up. They, too, had discovered the rider on the ridge, and many of
them were eager to go over there in the hope of finding foes.
"No, that would be foolish," Sun Bird said, firmly. "We will wait here
until Little Raven comes back and tells us about it. That scout has not
called us. He is telling us that he has seen something. See, Little
Raven is a long ways off. Pretty soon we will know about this thing. We
must wait."
"It is the only thing to do," agreed the famous warrior, Sitting Eagle.
They watched anxiously as the scout turned his pony down the ridge, and
rode to meet Little Raven. The distance made positive identification
difficult, but most of them agreed that it was Lean Wolf. When the two
riders finally met, the members of the war party watched them with
breathless interest. They also watched the plain in all directions for
the sudden appearance of foes. Then the warriors who had been loitering
in the rear overtook them.
"What has happened?" they inquired anxiously. "Who is over there?"
"Lean Wolf has made the danger signal," explained their comrades.
"Little Raven has gone over to find out about it. Did you see anything?"
"We saw some wolves," replied the scouts.
"Perhaps they were Pawnees," suggested Sun Bird.
"No, we saw them running on the plain, and they were wolves," declared
High Hawk, one of the warriors who had composed the rear guard.
"See, Little Raven is coming back," White Otter told Sun Bird. "He is
riding fast. He has something to tell us."
"Lean Wolf has gone back to the ridge," said Sun Bird.
They waited impatiently as Little Raven rode toward them at top speed.
In the meantime the other rider was cantering toward the ridge. When he
reached it he rode up the low slope and disappeared over the summit.
"Lean Wolf has gone to watch something," declared his tribesmen.
When Little Raven finally reached them they listened with eager
attention while he told Sun Bird what he had learned.
"That man is Lean Wolf," said Little Raven. "He found fresh pony tracks
over beyond that ridge. They were going the way we are going. There were
many ponies. They were riding ponies. There were no marks of lodge
poles. Lean Wolf says it must be a war party. He does not know who they
are. Running Dog is following the trail. Lean Wolf says that we must
watch sharp when night comes. He says that we must stop pretty soon at
the water place. Then he will know where to find us. Perhaps he will
come when it gets dark. Perhaps he will go to find the camp of those
people. My brothers, I have brought you the words of Lean Wolf."
"It is good," replied Sun Bird. "My friends, you have heard the words of
our brother, Lean Wolf. I believe that some of our enemies are over
there behind that ridge. Lean Wolf says there are many pony tracks.
There must be many riders. Perhaps it is a big war party. We must watch
sharp. We will go ahead until we come to the water place. Then we will
stop. Perhaps Lean Wolf will come there after it gets dark."
As they were about to resume their way they saw one of the scouts from
the east riding toward them. As he came nearer they recognized him as
Feather Dog.
"Why have you stopped?" Feather Dog inquired, curiously.
"Lean Wolf found many pony tracks over there behind that ridge," they
told him.
"Perhaps those are the ponies which the Blackfeet took away," said
Feather Dog.
"No, the tracks are fresh," Sun Bird explained.
"Then we must watch out," declared the famous scout.
"Did you see anything over there?" inquired the Minneconjoux.
"We saw some buffaloes, but they were far away," replied Feather Dog.
After he had learned where his comrades intended to stop for the night,
he immediately left them, and rode away to join his companion, a young
warrior named Proud Hawk. At the same time the war party resumed their
way toward the north. They were enthusiastic over the possibility of an
early encounter with their foes, and Sun Bird had considerable
difficulty in restraining some of the younger warriors who were eager to
ride after the unknown horsemen. His rank as war leader, however, gave
him authority to command. They accepted his orders, therefore, and
followed him across the plain, chanting their war songs, and boasting of
the deeds which they pledged themselves to perform.
The evening shadows were already falling when the Sioux finally came in
sight of the appointed camp site. It was a small water hole in the midst
of a straggling growth of stunted trees. However, as it offered good
pasturage for the ponies, it was a favorite stopping place. It marked
the northern boundary of the Minneconjoux hunting grounds, and few of
even the most venturesome hunters cared to risk going farther into the
north unless accompanied by a strong force of their tribesmen. It was
dangerous ground, as both the Blackfeet and the Crows were constantly
roaming about those boundless northern plains.
"Well, my friends, we will stop here until the next sun comes up," said
Sun Bird, as he dismounted from his pony.