Far away from the camp where Songbird waited her father's return, Star,
with his mother and the other Comanche ponies, travelled rapidly, while
Quannah watched the country with eyes as sharp and bright as those of an
eagle.
Strange warriors from the Kiowas rode into camp on ponies which were
covered with dry lather that told how far and how fast the men had
ridden. At the same time Comanche messengers were being sent off on
ponies, and there was a constant stir in the camp.
Star wondered about it, until he could restrain his curiosity no longer.
"Where do they go?" he questioned Running Deer, at last. His mother had
been very nervous and cross, and she answered sharply:
"They go to see where the white men travel, so that Quannah may know
where to find them. Be quiet, now. Watch and you will learn everything
for yourself. Do not talk too much, but watch and listen, then you will
grow wise."
Quannah was lifting his hand, and Star's bright eyes saw one of the
youngest warriors ride up to the chief.
"Let me go this time," begged the young man.
"Your pony is not swift enough," replied the chief, and the young man
bowed his head in shame.
"He has but one pony," Running Deer spoke scornfully to Star. "He is
poor and his mare is old. When his father went to the Happy Hunting
Grounds he left but two ponies for his son, and one of them has died.
His heart is brave, but his pony's legs are weak, so he will not be
sent."
As Quannah began speaking, Star lifted his head quickly.
"You shall go. Running Deer is the swiftest pony of the Comanche herd,
and Star, her colt, though young and untried, should be fleet-footed and
sure. You shall ride him to-day."
In a few minutes the young warrior was seated on Star's bare back.
Running Deer watched anxiously. But the colt's back did not weaken, nor
did he flinch beneath the man's weight. It seemed no more of a burden
than when Songbird had ridden him.
"Watch out for prairie-dog holes and loose, smooth stones," cautioned
Running Deer. "When you go most swiftly, hold your nose level with your
shoulders, and look straight before you without turning your head from
side to side. Do not leap high, but let your body drop low to the earth
when you run, and in that way you can outstrip other ponies and not
weary for many long miles. If your rider falls from you, do not leave
him, but stay near by until he climbs again to your back, or someone
comes for you. And always remember that you belong to the Chief of the
Comanches."
While Running Deer was speaking, Quannah was talking in a low voice to
the young man who sat on Star's back. As the chief's words ceased, the
pony felt the rider lean forward, and his knees press closely against
his sides; then, like an arrow shot from a strong bow, Star, son of
Running Deer, darted on his way.
The fresh breeze swept into the pony's nostrils, it tossed his thick,
black mane, and his long tail streamed like a tattered black flag, while
the Comanche lying low against Star's shoulder seemed to be a part of
the animal he was riding.
Across the wide prairie the pony raced, guided by a noose of plaited
rawhide. He did not need the pressure of this rope on his neck, for the
mere movement of the Indian's body was enough to tell him which way to
go. No whip or blow from the rider's heels was necessary. Star
understood that the chief had sent him, and the son of Running Deer must
prove himself worthy of her training and his heritage.
All day they travelled. At intervals the Indian made him walk a short
distance, then once more Star broke into the smooth, swift run. They
passed near a band of startled antelopes which whirled and dashed away;
farther off, a bunch of galloping buffaloes thudded with their heads
held low down, the humps on their shoulders rising and falling like
small waves of dark water, but the Indian on Star's back paid no heed to
them. The quiver full of sharply pointed arrows remained slung across
his back.
Just before dusk the Comanche halted among huge rocks. Slipping from the
pony's back, he held his fingers tightly about Star's nose, to prevent
the animal from calling out. Some distance below them, the pony saw a
great multitude of white-faced men and big ponies. The men were dressed
in strange clothes instead of the robes that Indians wore. Some of them
lifted things from their heads, and Star stared in surprise at the short
hair. Quannah and all the Indians the pony had ever seen had worn long
braids of hair called scalp-locks. It was a disgrace for a warrior to
lose his scalp lock, and a great trophy of victory for any foe who cut
it off. So the pony wondered why Quannah should be so grave about
fighting men who had lost their scalp-locks.
As the men rode nearer, Star saw belts filled with things that gleamed,
and there were long, bright sticks in their hands. The pony understood
at once that these were what his mother had spoken about. Things that
could roar like angry buffaloes and spit fire that killed Comanche
warriors and ponies. He shivered and shrank back, but as he felt the
Indian's fingers tighten, the pony remembered that Quannah had sent them
here, and he must stay with his rider.
Star forgot his fears in watching the men fix many white tepees in long
rows, and there were strange things that looked like long, round-topped
hills of snow which moved slowly forward, each dragged by six
queer-looking animals. Star had never seen such strange ponies. They
were all dark brown like the bark on trees, their ears were very long,
their heads large, they had no flowing manes, and the only hair on their
tails was in a thick bunch at the very end. While Star watched them, one
of the creatures lifted up its nose and uttered a terrific noise.
Instantly the others joined, and the din was so frightful that Star
would have turned and raced away had not the Comanche held tightly to
the pony's nose. It was the first time in his life that Star had seen
white men, and he had never heard any pony speak of mules or wagons.
The young warrior crouched low. Before the noise ceased, he had led Star
very cautiously until they gained a spot out of sight and hearing of the
white men. Then leaping to the pony's back, the Indian raced furiously
toward Quannah's camp in the sheltering hills. It was past dawn when the
Comanche halted at Quannah's side. The whole camp was astir.
Other couriers had arrived from different points, on ponies streaked
with dust. While the animals rubbed noses together, the messengers told
Quannah what each had seen.
The man who had ridden Star was the first to speak.
"Great bands of white men are coming from all four sides of the world.
The band I saw is larger than all the Kiowas and Comanches together.
They are one day's ride from here and they are travelling this way."
"And in another place I saw a band of fighting men coming this way,"
spoke a second courier.
"Still another big band comes from the opposite side," the third man
spoke.
"And back on our own trail, I saw them travelling toward us." The last
speaker was one of the head chiefs under Quannah. "I left my pony a long
way off that he might not make any noise and warn the white men. Then I
crawled like a snake until I reached a hill near the white tepees. I
heard men's voices but I could not understand what they said. They speak
a different tongue from ours. But there were so many men and so many
ponies that they were as the leaves on the trees or the blades of grass.
How shall we fight them and hope to conquer?"
"They will surround us from all sides, as the hunters gather around a
herd of antelopes," one of the men said. "If they were not in back of
us, we could go to the camp where the women and children wait."
Quannah looked at the trail which led toward his little daughter, as he
said in a voice that all could hear plainly, "We will do it. I have a
plan. We must protect our women and children!"
Then the Medicine Man, who had remained silent, stood beside the
Comanche Chief. With hands uplifted toward the sky the old man called
upon the Great Spirit to hear his children and aid them in the fight to
save the game and the grass and the homes of the Comanche people from
the white men who wished to destroy them.
After that Star watched the warriors hold up their long bows and quivers
filled with slender arrows, that the Medicine Man's blessing might make
the arrows strong and sure, give strength to their fingers and clear
vision to their eyes in the battle for their homes and those whom they
loved.