“I believe those are the Pawnees who had our hunting party trapped,”
Little Bear said as they waited. “I thought I recognized some of the
horses.”
“I’m sure it is the same party,” Great Bear agreed.
“We ought to punish them,” Little Bear suggested.
There was a hint of a smile at the corners of Great Bear’s mouth.
“And how do you think two of us are to punish twenty Pawnee warriors?”
he asked.
“We could capture some of their horses,” Little Bear proposed.
Grandfather remained thoughtfully silent for a long time.
“It might be done,” he agreed finally, “although it would be dangerous.
Pawnee war parties usually hobble their horses and keep them near camp.”
“Then there will be no sentry watching the horses,” Little Bear pointed
out.
“We shall try,” Great Bear agreed. “I shall try to think of a plan that
will work.”
While Great Bear was trying to think of a plan, Little Bear was
thinking, too. He remembered how easily the Crow had made off with the
Sioux horses, but those horses had been across a hill from camp. The
Pawnees would have their horses near their camp. Besides, the horses
would be hobbled. The hobbles would have to be removed before the horses
could be taken and that would add much to the danger of the attempt.
“I believe I have a plan,” Great Bear said. “When the Pawnees are
asleep, we shall approach their horses from this side. That way the
horses will be between us and the Pawnee camp. There will be less danger
of our being seen. Above all, we must be careful not to excite the
horses. The Pawnees will be sure to investigate any unusual sounds.”
As soon as the sun had gone down, and before darkness closed in, they
started off. As usual Great Bear led the way. The path he chose followed
the valley in a winding course to the west.
“We should be directly south of their camp now,” Great Bear said as he
halted. “This is a good place to leave our horses.”
They tied their horses and started north on foot. Their way led up a
gently sloping hill, which divided their valley from the one in which
the Pawnees were camped. By the time Little Bear and his grandfather had
reached the top of the hill, darkness had closed around them.
[Illustration]
The Pawnees had selected a good spot for their camp. It was in the
middle of a saucer-like valley. There were a few scattered trees in the
valley, but not enough to offer hiding for anyone trying to sneak up on
the camp. The Pawnees had eaten their supper and were lounging about a
big campfire. Little Bear could see large bundles lying at the edge of
the firelight. He knew those were bundles of meat wrapped in buffalo
hides.
“They are foolishly brave.” Great Bear grunted. “They have killed
buffalo on Sioux hunting grounds, and now they have a big campfire, as
though they were in their own land.”
“We will teach them to stay off Sioux hunting grounds,” Little Bear
whispered fiercely.
The two lay and watched the camp. The north wind was chilly, making the
campfire look inviting. As Great Bear had planned, the Pawnee horses
were south of the camp. He and Little Bear wouldn’t have to circle the
Pawnee camp to get to the horses.
It seemed to Little Bear the warriors would never roll up in their
blankets and go to sleep. The campfire died down to glowing embers.
Finally the last Pawnee warrior rolled up in his blankets. Little Bear
started to crawl forward, but Grandfather reached out and put a hand on
his shoulder.
“Wait,” Great Bear ordered. “Pawnees are sly.”
Little Bear waited impatiently. It would take a long time to crawl to
those horses and still longer to untie hobbles and get away from the
Pawnee camp. If he and Grandfather didn’t start soon, the sun would be
up before they were out of the valley. Great Bear lay motionless, and in
a moment Little Bear understood the wisdom of Grandfather’s caution. He
saw a shadowy movement in the Pawnee camp. An ember in the dying fire
broke and sent up a flame of light. In that light Little Bear saw a
warrior crawl out of his blankets and start circling the herd of horses.
The warrior made a complete circuit of the herd. Sometimes he was hidden
from view behind a horse or in its shadow, but at last Little Bear saw
the warrior return to his blankets. Still Great Bear made no move to
start towards the horses. After a time, another warrior left his
blankets as the first one had done. It was so dark Little Bear couldn’t
follow the warrior’s movements after he left the glow of the fire, but
at last he saw that warrior complete his circuit and return to his
blankets.
“Will they do that all night?” Little Bear whispered despairingly.
“No,” Great Bear reassured him. “But there will be one more and perhaps
two.”
To Little Bear it seemed certain the night would be gone while he and
Grandfather waited. At last he saw a shadowy movement that told him a
third warrior was making a circuit of the herd.
“There may be another one,” Great Bear warned, “but we can wait no
longer. Keep a sharp watch. We are starting.”
For some time they crawled forward side by side. When they reached a
point about halfway to the horses, they separated as Great Bear had
planned. Little Bear swerved to the left and Great Bear to the right.
Little Bear inched forward until he was near enough to the horses so
that the sounds they made would hide any little noise he made as he
crept forward. He got to his hands and knees and moved more rapidly.
Suddenly he flattened out and lay motionless. A few steps ahead, between
him and the horses, a Pawnee warrior was circling the herd. Little Bear
dared not cry out a warning to Grandfather.
Little Bear’s heart was thumping so loudly he was sure the Pawnee must
come to investigate the sound. Even when the warrior moved on, Little
Bear’s heart continued to race. The Pawnee might still discover Great
Bear. The minutes dragged by with no unusual sounds until finally Little
Bear was sure the warrior hadn’t seen Grandfather either.
Little Bear started forward again. When he was near enough to the horses
so that they would hide him from the camp, he slowly got to his feet.
The nearest horse snorted loudly and moved back awkwardly. Little Bear
stood motionless until the horse again started to graze. Carefully
Little Bear moved to the side of the horse. It tossed its head
restlessly and then stood quietly.
Now Little Bear moved in front of the horse and knelt down. Quickly he
unknotted the hobble ropes. He got to his feet and moved to the next
horse. It reared back excitedly. Little Bear dared not take time to
quiet an excited horse, and so he left it and stepped up beside another
one. This horse scarcely raised its head as Little Bear stroked its
side. He knelt and unhobbled it.
When Little Bear got to his feet again, he stood motionless, trying to
see into the darkness. Any warrior making a circuit of the herd would be
sure to spot horses moving without hobbles. He would investigate
immediately. At last, satisfied there was no warrior near, Little Bear
put his hand on the horse’s mane and guided it towards the other horse
he had unhobbled. He kept the horse walking slowly so that its movements
would not easily be seen by a watcher. At last he had the two unhobbled
horses together.
Little Bear had thought that when he got the two horses together, the
most dangerous part of the raid would be over. He saw now he had been
wrong. The only way he could get his horses to the edge of the herd was
to keep them moving side by side. He had to walk between them with a
hand in the mane of each. Instead of staying close to other horses so
that their movements would hide the movements of his horses, Little Bear
had to find places where the horses were widely separated. At the edge
of the herd, he stopped his horses and wiped the sweat from his brow.
He left the horses standing and scouted a short distance in the
direction from which each of the Pawnees had come to circle the herd. He
saw something move ahead of him. Little Bear waited until he was sure it
was a Pawnee warrior. Then he carefully slipped back and stood between
his two horses. He put a hand in the mane of each and held them quiet.
The Pawnee warrior came close. One of the horses took a step forward,
and Little Bear’s heart quit beating. But the Pawnee didn’t notice the
horse wasn’t hobbled. He went on around the herd.
Little Bear waited for a long time after the warrior had passed. He
would have liked to jump on the back of one of the horses and go racing
away from the Pawnee camp. Still he obeyed Grandfather’s orders and
waited silently. At last, sure the Pawnee warrior had returned to his
blankets, Little Bear started his horses forward. Often he turned to
look behind him. He saw two horses come out of the herd and start
towards him. For a panic stricken moment he was sure it was a Pawnee
warrior using the horses as a screen. He almost laughed aloud with
relief when he realized it was Great Bear with the two horses he had
captured.
Little Bear swung his horses to the right so that the four of them would
be farther apart and not so noticeable. He no longer allowed his horses
to stop and graze, but kept them moving. Slowly he came towards the top
of the hill. Every moment he expected to hear an outcry from the camp
below. He reached the top of the hill, and still there was no sound from
the Pawnee camp. It seemed to take hours to cross the hill and get far
enough down the other side to be out of sight of the camp, but at last
it was done. The first part of their raid had been successful.
“We made it,” Little Bear gloated as Grandfather joined him beside their
own horses.
“We aren’t away yet,” Great Bear reminded him. “The Pawnees will try to
catch us.”
“How soon do you think they will miss the horses?” Little Bear asked.
“Not until morning,” Great Bear guessed. “We’d better start.”
“We will be a long way by morning,” Little Bear vowed.
“Not as far as I would like to be,” Great Bear warned. “We have to
circle their camp and then go north. If they guess that is what we are
doing, the Pawnees will take a short cut. They may be able to catch us.”
Grandfather and Little Bear each mounted his own horse and led the ones
which he had captured. Once the captured horses were well away from the
Pawnee camp, it would be easier to drive them, but now there was too
much danger the horses would make a break for camp. It was so dark
Little Bear wondered how Grandfather could find the way. Although they
went slowly, they went steadily. They had gone a great distance before
Great Bear turned north.
Little Bear judged they must be about straight west of the Pawnee camp
when the first faint light showed in the east. Grandfather had been
right. They were still too close to the Pawnee camp. If the Pawnees
guessed the route he and Grandfather were taking, there was still grave
danger. As it became light enough to see, Great Bear urged his horse to
an easy lope.
[Illustration]
They rode into a country which was even rougher than that behind them.
There were narrow valleys surrounded by steep hills. Great Bear kept at
an almost straight course, as though he were sure of the route they were
to follow. Every time they started up a hill, Great Bear rode ahead.
Then he would dismount and walk in front of his horse. At the top of
each hill he would look back and make sure no Pawnees were in sight
before he would signal Little Bear to bring the horses across the top of
the hill. When the sun was straight overhead, Great Bear halted beside a
small stream.
“We are safe now.” He smiled. “The Pawnees will not dare follow us
farther into Sioux hunting grounds.”
Little Bear toppled off his horse and stretched out on the ground. He
hadn’t believed anyone could get so tired riding a horse. Grandfather
stretched out beside him.
“We have been successful enough that we can return to the main camp
proudly,” Great Bear exclaimed happily.
“Aren’t we going to try to catch that Crow?” Little Bear asked.
Great Bear shook his head.
“You have two good horses,” he pointed out. “I am sure Flying Arrow will
trade you the roan colt for either of them.”
“I suppose he will,” Little Bear agreed. “And you have two good horses,
but I don’t believe either of them is as good as your buffalo horse the
Crow took.”
“We should return to the main camp,” Great Bear insisted. “We have won a
victory over the Pawnees. That is enough.”
Little Bear looked at the four captured horses. They were good horses.
He and Grandfather had been lucky to pick out such good horses in the
dark. Undoubtedly Flying Arrow would trade the roan colt for any one of
the horses. Little Bear knew he and Grandfather could ride into the main
Sioux camp in triumph. No other boy in the entire Sioux nation was the
owner of three such fine horses. Yet it angered him to think of the Crow
warrior going unpunished. The Pawnees had been punished for their attack
on the Sioux hunting party. That Crow warrior should be taught it wasn’t
safe to steal Sioux horses.
“Spirit-of-Water-That-Falls pointed out we could find the Crow if we
went towards the setting sun,” Little Bear reminded his grandfather.
“He warned of snow,” Great Bear remembered, “and he said nothing of
Pawnees. I think it was only a dream and no message from a spirit.”
“As you say, Grandfather,” Little Bear agreed, “although I think that
Crow should be punished and I would like to have you get your buffalo
horse back.”
Great Bear smiled proudly.
“Someday you will be a great chief, Little Bear,” he prophesied. “You
have a ready tongue and the courage to do what your tongue suggests. We
shall spend two more days trying to find the Crow’s trail.”