Little Eagle carefully inched his way back from the top of the hill. He
knew Angry Wolf was moving back too, but there wasn’t the whisper of a
sound to tell him where his friend was. When he was several paces down
the hill, Little Eagle rose to a stooping position so he could go
faster. He darted from tree to tree. He was in the thick growth of trees
at the foot of the hill when Angry Wolf hissed softly to call his
attention.
Little Eagle looked around. He finally saw Angry Wolf hidden in some
thick brush. Little Eagle crawled in beside him.
“We’ll wait here to make sure no one is following us,” Angry Wolf
whispered.
They lay silently in their hiding place while dusk faded into darkness.
At last Angry Wolf touched Little Eagle’s shoulder to let him know it
was time to move. Little Eagle stepped in Angry Wolf’s footsteps as the
other boy led the way from the Crow camp. Angry Wolf went on until they
were many paces from the Crow camp. When he stopped, he listened
carefully for signs of enemies.
“What are you doing away from our camp, Little Eagle?” he demanded as
sternly as though he were a dog soldier.
A sharp answer rose to Little Eagle’s tongue. Angry Wolf was only a
summer older than he, and he hadn’t yet earned the right to be called a
warrior. He had no right to speak to Little Eagle in that tone of voice.
Little Eagle choked back an angry answer when he realized that it was
anxiety and excitement that made Angry Wolf speak so sharply.
“I felt there was something wrong about the powwow,” Little Eagle
answered. “I came to see if the Crows were planning treachery.”
“It would have been better for our party if our chiefs had been as
suspicious,” Angry Wolf agreed gloomily. “I slipped out of camp because
I too, thought the Crows could not be trusted. Now we must get a warning
back to our people.”
“It is a long trip,” Little Eagle reminded him. “If we had horses—”
“It is too dangerous to try to take horses from this Crow camp,” Angry
Wolf replied. “If we failed, there would be no one to take a warning to
our camp.”
“Happy Otter is in charge of the dog soldiers,” Little Eagle said. “He
will be angry when he learns that both of us slipped through the lines.
He may have us punished and not listen to our reports.”
“He will have to listen to us,” Angry Wolf protested. “If our camp isn’t
warned, it will be destroyed.”
“Happy Otter will be too angry to listen,” Little Eagle insisted.
“However, if we rode Crow horses into camp, he would have to take us to
the chiefs to explain why we took horses when our chiefs had promised to
have peace until the powwow was over. That would give us a chance to
tell about this camp.”
“You are right,” Angry Wolf agreed. “We must have at least one horse.”
Angry Wolf led the way farther from the Crow camp. He went on until they
were so far from the camp that they could no longer hear the noise made
in it.
“I have a plan,” he announced when they stopped. “You return to our
camp. If I fail to get a horse, you still may reach our camp in time.
When the dog soldiers arrest you, demand to be taken to Clawing Bear.
Everyone knows you are a pupil of his.”
Little Eagle saw the wisdom of Angry Wolf’s plan. It did seem that since
he was the one who had thought of taking a Crow horse, he should be the
one to try it instead of Angry Wolf. Yet the plan for Little Eagle to
demand to be taken to Clawing Bear was good.
“It is a long journey to our camp,” Little Eagle said. “I’ll start at
once.”
The two boys had been sitting down as they talked. Now Little Eagle got
to his feet. Before he took the first step, Angry Wolf grabbed his
ankle. Little Eagle felt the warning pressure of Angry Wolf’s fingers.
He stood like a statue. He caught the sound of horses coming from the
direction of the Crow camp. A moment later two mounted Crow warriors
could be seen in the starlight.
Little Eagle checked the impulse to duck down. Many times it had been
explained to him that by remaining motionless he would be safer. The
sudden movement of ducking out of sight was more apt to be seen than a
person standing quite still. He waited until the two Crows disappeared
in the direction of the other Crow camp. Angry Wolf hadn’t released his
hold on Little Eagle’s ankle. He increased the pressure to let Little
Eagle know that he thought they should make a new plan.
“Those two Crows are great warriors,” Angry Wolf whispered. “They have
been sent to keep watch during the night between our camp and the other
Crow camp. They will make your trip far more dangerous.”
Little Eagle wondered how Angry Wolf knew so much about the two Crow
warriors. He had had only a brief look at them.
“I will keep a sharp watch,” Little Eagle promised. “I will be careful
not to walk into an ambush.”
Angry Wolf shook his head.
“Crow warriors may be anywhere between our camp and that other Crow
camp,” he said. “The only chance is to ride through on a horse. It would
be better if you helped me get a horse.”
Little Eagle kept the smile of triumph from his face. Now they would use
the plan that he had thought wisest from the first. Both of them would
sneak to the Crow horse corral and each would take a horse. One of them
would get away and take the warning to the Sioux camp. His mind turned
back to the question that had been bothering him since they had seen the
two Crow warriors.
“How did you know those two Crows were great warriors?” he asked.
“I saw the belts they wore,” Angry Wolf answered. “They had trophies of
many successful raids.”
Little Eagle was ashamed that he hadn’t noticed the belts. Truly, if he
were to become a great warrior or a great medicine man, he would have to
learn to watch more closely. When Angry Wolf got to his feet and started
back toward the Crow camp, Little Eagle followed willingly. Angry Wolf
had proved that he should be the leader.
Not the sharpest ear could have heard the two young Sioux as they went
back to their hiding place at the top of the hill above the Crow camp.
Before he put a foot down, Angry Wolf looked carefully to see that there
was no twig to snap under his step. Little Eagle made sure that he
stepped in the other boy’s tracks.
When Little Eagle looked down onto the Crow camp, he saw that it still
was as busy as it had been earlier. As the two boys watched, the
warriors finished their work with their fighting equipment. The fires
were allowed to die down to beds of glowing coals. It looked as though
the warriors were ready to roll up in their blankets and sleep until it
was time to make their attack.
Little Eagle saw several warriors leave the camp and go toward the horse
corral. At first he thought they were merely going to look at their
horses. He felt the icy finger of fear when he saw the men returning to
camp, leading their horses. Evidently the Crows weren’t going to wait
until dawn to make their attack. Little Eagle and Angry Wolf wouldn’t
have time to take a warning back to camp. Little Eagle glanced toward
Angry Wolf. Angry Wolf signaled that they should move back.
Hopelessly, Little Eagle obeyed the signal. Halfway down the hill, Angry
Wolf stopped.
“The horses will be tied to the wrists of their owners tonight,” Angry
Wolf explained. “We must think of a plan to get one of them.”
Little Eagle felt as though a weight had been lifted from his shoulders.
Of course that was what the Crow warriors were doing. He had heard of
this custom of the Crows. The night before a Crow warrior went into
battle, he slept with his horse’s long tether tied to his wrist. The
Crows believed that while the owner slept, his spirit talked to the
horse. In that way, the horse would know just what to do when the battle
started. Little Eagle was so relieved to know there was still a chance
to get a warning back to his own camp, that he could hardly wait to make
the attempt.
“There will be other horses in the corral,” he said. “It would be easier
to get one of them.”
“If we get a horse from the corral, it might be one that wasn’t much
good,” Angry Wolf answered. “The best horses will be tied to the owners’
wrists. I must get one of them.”
Little Eagle wanted to protest that both of them should try to get
horses, but he remained silent. Angry Wolf was the one who had
remembered the Crow custom of keeping horses in camp the night before a
battle. He had proved himself capable to be the leader. Little Eagle
must obey him until he, too, proved himself.
Angry Wolf stretched out full length upon the ground. He seemed to be
unworried about this expedition. He took a piece of dried meat from a
leather sack at his belt. He broke the chunk of meat in two and offered
a piece to Little Eagle. Little Eagle hesitated. He was ashamed that he
had forgotten another lesson their warrior-teacher had taught all of the
boys.
“Whenever you leave camp, be sure to take food with you,” the teacher
had told them many times. “Sometime you may be hiding near enemies where
you don’t dare hunt for food.”
Here was another way in which Angry Wolf had proved himself more nearly
a warrior than Little Eagle.
“Take it,” Angry Wolf urged. “We will need all of our strength to do
what must be done.”
Little Eagle took the food. While he ate, he stretched out beside Angry
Wolf. His muscles relaxed. Almost the moment he swallowed the last of
the food, he fell asleep. He was awakened by the pressure of Angry
Wolf’s hand.
Little Eagle waited until he was sure that he was wide awake before he
sat up. Angry Wolf gave a little tug on his arm to signal Little Eagle
to follow. They made their way back to the top of the hill.
The campfires still cast some light about the camp. Occasionally a
burning branch would break in two, sending up a flickering light. Little
Eagle could see that there was a horse near every tepee. The campfires
didn’t give off enough light for him to see the thongs which tied the
horses to their masters, but he knew they were there.
Angry Wolf leaned so close that his lips were almost against Little
Eagle’s ear.
“I believe I can get a horse,” Angry Wolf whispered. “If I fail, you
must find a way to get the warning back to our camp.”
“You’ll get a horse,” Little Eagle whispered confidently.
Angry Wolf waited until he was sure no one was moving about the camp. He
disappeared so silently that Little Eagle was hardly aware that he was
leaving.
Little Eagle turned all of his attention to the Crow camp. He held his
breath when he saw a Crow warrior step out of one of the tepees. He let
his breath out in a sigh of relief when the warrior turned and went back
into the tepee.
It was a long time before Little Eagle caught the faint shadow of
another movement in the camp. He knew it must have been Angry Wolf
darting between two campfires. Little Eagle watched anxiously for the
quick movement of a horse which would betray Angry Wolf to their
enemies. Slowly and silently, Little Eagle moved his bow to a shooting
position and fitted an arrow to the string.
He saw one of the horses take a couple of steps and thought that must be
the one Angry Wolf had selected. The horse moved a few more steps and
then stopped. Little Eagle almost shouted a cry of warning as a Crow
warrior stepped out of a tepee near the horse. There was enough light
from the glowing campfire for Little Eagle to see the warrior start
toward the horse, but there the man faded into the shadows. It was a
long, anxious time before the Crow again came into view in front of the
tepee. The warrior hesitated a moment before he went inside.
Little Eagle put every effort into watching. He was sure that Angry Wolf
would leave that horse and try to take another. Little Eagle turned his
head, looking from one tepee to the next. Finally he saw another horse
moving slowly away from a tepee. The horse took a few steps and stopped.
It continued this slow pace as it moved toward the edge of the camp.
When the horse passed between two campfires, Little Eagle couldn’t see
Angry Wolf, but he was sure his Sioux friend was pressed against the
horse’s other side.
The horse made slow progress. It walked slowly and it stopped often. At
last there was only one more campfire for it to pass and it would be out
of the light. Little Eagle’s heart leaped into his throat as he saw a
Crow warrior step out of a tepee. Evidently Angry Wolf had seen the Crow
too, because the horse stopped and remained standing.
Slow moment followed slow moment. Little Eagle found that he was
breathing as hard as though he had run a great distance. At last the
warrior reached his hand toward the tepee flap and started to go back
in. At the same instant the horse took a couple of quick, sidling steps.
The Crow warrior whirled around. His warning yell rang through the camp.
[Illustration: _Mounted Crow warriors were in pursuit_]
Since he could no longer hope to stay hidden, Angry Wolf sprang onto his
horse’s back. He drummed his heels against the animal’s side and sent it
racing out of camp. Warriors sprang from tepees as though they had been
waiting for a signal. Before Angry Wolf had more than started up the
hill, mounted Crow warriors were in pursuit.
For a moment Little Eagle forgot that most of the Crow camp was riding
toward him. He jumped to his feet to watch Angry Wolf. He remembered his
own danger and crouched down out of sight. He tried to get a shot at the
pursuing Crows, but in the darkness and among the trees, he had no
chance. He watched helplessly as some of the warriors gained rapidly on
Angry Wolf.
Little Eagle wondered why the warriors didn’t shoot. They were within
easy bowshot of Angry Wolf. He knew the answer almost as quickly as he
thought of the question. As long as they had a chance to surround Angry
Wolf, they wouldn’t take the risk of an arrow wounding a Crow horse.
Angry Wolf reached the top of the hill and started down the other side.
His horse was running harder, and the gap between him and his pursuers
began to widen. As the Crow warriors dashed past, Little Eagle sprang
up. The warriors were so intent on the chase that there was no danger
they would look back. Little Eagle raced after them as though he
expected to overtake the horses. The riders reached the bottom of the
hill, crossed the narrow valley, and started up the other side. Little
Eagle’s hopes began to rise. Angry Wolf was getting farther ahead at
every jump of his horse.
Little Eagle didn’t see the arrow fly, but he did see Angry Wolf topple
from his horse. The horse kept running, and the Crows went after it.
“They’ll catch the horse before they come back to take Angry Wolf’s
scalp,” Little Eagle thought to himself.
There was no time to make a plan. Little Eagle kept running toward the
place where Angry Wolf had fallen. He hadn’t any idea how he would do
it, but he must hide Angry Wolf from the Crows. A Sioux who went to the
Happy Hunting Grounds without his scalp could never be happy there.
When Little Eagle reached Angry Wolf, he crouched over his friend. He
had been so sure that the Crow’s arrow had killed Angry Wolf that he
gave a grunt of unbelieving surprise when he found that Angry Wolf still
breathed. The deep, bloody gash along Angry Wolf’s head warned Little
Eagle that there was little hope of saving the other’s life. Yet, since
he was still alive, there was a chance.
Little Eagle raised his head and paused to listen. He could hear the
sounds of the Crows still chasing the runaway horse. He had a little
time. He got Angry Wolf’s arm across his shoulder and somehow got to his
feet. Half carrying and half dragging the wounded boy, Little Eagle
started away from the trail.
He went on until he was gasping for breath. Although it seemed that he
had been struggling under that weight for a long time, Little Eagle knew
he had gone only a few paces from the trail. But he could go no farther.
As gently as possible, he lowered Angry Wolf to the ground. Again he
bent over Angry Wolf, and again he was relieved to find that the boy
still breathed.
The only plan which occurred to Little Eagle seemed to have small chance
of succeeding, but it was better than not trying at all. He picked up a
small branch. Holding this in both hands, he walked backward, brushing
the limb back and forth across his trail. It wasn’t a good job of
erasing his tracks, but it might keep the Crows from finding them until
after daylight.
When Little Eagle reached the place where Angry Wolf had fallen, he
stretched out on the ground. He heard a triumphant yell which meant that
the Crows had caught the horse. They soon would be coming back. Little
Eagle was careful to make plain marks to make it appear that Angry Wolf
had struggled to his feet. He started from the trail in the direction
opposite to that in which he had taken Angry Wolf. He took as long
strides as he could, and at first, staggered about. He wanted to
convince the Crows that they were following the trail of a wounded
warrior.
He had gone only a short distance when he heard the sounds of the Crows
returning. He began to go faster. Whenever he neared a clump of brush,
he went directly toward it. He knew the Crows would stop and send
warriors to surround the clump before they went near it. They would take
no chance of having a wounded warrior ambush them. Each of these delays
would give him a chance to lead them farther from Angry Wolf before he
himself was captured.
Little Eagle heard an angry yip. The Crows had returned and found that
the enemy, whom they had supposed slain, had slipped away. Little Eagle
increased his speed. It wouldn’t be long until the Crows found his trail
and came in pursuit. He knew they would come slowly. They were sure that
the enemy they were pursuing was badly wounded. They wouldn’t be afraid
the enemy would escape. Their only fear would be that he might ambush
them.
A series of short, sharp yells told him that they had found his trail.
He could almost see them following it. A couple of trackers on foot
would follow the trail. Mounted warriors would ride at each side of the
trackers and behind them. The riders would turn aside to surround each
of the clumps of brush toward which he had made his trail.
When he started, Little Eagle’s one plan had been to lead the Crows away
from Angry Wolf. As he realized that he was getting farther away from
his pursuers, he began to change the plan. There was a small hope that
he might escape and get back to Angry Wolf. His hand brushed against the
bag of poultice Clawing Bear had tied at his belt. If he could get back
to Angry Wolf, there might be a chance to save the wounded boy’s life.
Little Eagle had thought he was going as fast as it was possible for him
to go. As the hope of saving Angry Wolf’s life grew, he somehow managed
to go faster. He heard the gurgle of running water ahead of him. When he
pushed through a clump of small trees, he saw the stream. He knew this
was the creek that twisted among the low hills near the Crow camp.
Little Eagle saw that he could take a short run and jump across the
creek. He ran as though this were his plan, but he shortened his leap
and landed in the water. He stopped to listen. He had gained so much on
his pursuers that he could hardly hear them. He smiled to himself when
he remembered something the warrior-teacher had told him.
“When you have to hide from your enemies,” the teacher had said several
times, “hide as near them as possible.”
Instead of turning downstream, Little Eagle turned the other way. This
route would take him near the Crow camp. Although the water was cold,
Little Eagle waded up the stream. There would be no tracks here for the
Crows to follow. He was quite near the Crow camp when he heard the
warriors yelling behind him. He listened long enough to make sure they
had found the place where he had jumped into the creek. He felt certain
they would look downstream for him. He climbed out of the stream at a
place where the Crows had been bringing their horses to water. Even if
the Crows looked for the trail here, it would be lost among the many
other tracks.
As soon as he left the water, Little Eagle trotted along the bank until
he was many paces past the Crow camp. Here he started a great circle
which took him around the camp and back upon the ridge on which he had
left Angry Wolf. From the spot where he reached the top of the ridge, he
was still a considerable distance from Angry Wolf.
Little Eagle went as cautiously as a warrior would have gone. Although
he had heard no more sounds of the Crows, it was still possible that
they had found Angry Wolf. If they had, they would be waiting in ambush.
Even when he reached a place from where he could see Angry Wolf
stretched on the ground, Little Eagle moved slowly, stopping often to
look and listen.
At last he was sure there were no Crows near. Little Eagle crawled the
remaining distance to Angry Wolf. He gave a grunt of dismay. Angry Wolf
had thrown one arm across his chest. Little Eagle could see no sign of
the wounded Sioux’s chest rising and falling as it would do if he still
breathed. Little Eagle bent forward until his face was almost against
Angry Wolf’s mouth. He felt Angry Wolf’s breath blowing faintly against
his face. Angry Wolf was still alive.
Little Eagle looked at the deep gash along the side of Angry Wolf’s
head. It had been bleeding badly. Even now a trickle of blood was
running from the wound. It looked as though Angry Wolf had already lost
so much blood that his life couldn’t be saved. But the very first lesson
Little Eagle had learned from Clawing Bear was that as long as a person
breathed there was hope of saving his life.
Little Eagle opened the pouch at his belt and took the wad of ointment
into his hands. He kneaded it with his fingers until it was soft and
pliable. If there had been a place near where he could get water, he
would have washed the wound before applying the poultice. However, the
creek was many dangerous steps away, and there was no time to lose. As
gently as possible, Little Eagle spread the soft mass along the wound.
He held it in place until the flow of blood completely stopped. He
nodded in satisfaction when he took his hand off the poultice and it
stayed in place.
Little Eagle bent over Angry Wolf’s face. His friend still breathed. Now
there was nothing Little Eagle could do except wait. He could see the
sun beginning to build its campfires. Already there was a little light
in the sky where the sun would rise. It wouldn’t be long until the Crow
warriors returned unless they had ridden straight on to the Sioux camp.
It was almost daylight when Little Eagle heard the Crows returning. He
would have liked to jump up and give the Sioux victory cry. If the Crows
were returning this soon, they had given up their plan to attack the
Sioux camp.
Little Eagle scarcely dared hope that the Crows would fail to find Angry
Wolf and himself. He told himself it really didn’t matter. He had saved
the rest of the Sioux tribe by outwitting the big party of Crows. Truly
he had won a great victory.