one slept the other kept watch. Thus they got
fairly well rested before they came in sight of where their camp had
stood when they had left. All that they could see of the once large
village was the lone tent of the great Medicine Man. They rode up on to
a high hill and farther on towards the east they saw smoke from a great
many tepees. They then knew that something had happened and that the
village had moved away.

"My friend," said Chaske, "I am afraid something has happened to the
Medicine Man's lodge, and rather than have you go there, I will go alone
and you follow the trail of our party and go on ahead with the horses.
I will take the black and the white horses with me and I will follow on
later, after I have seen what the trouble is."

"Very well, my friend, I will do as you say, but I am afraid something
has happened to Pretty Feather." Hake started on with the horses,
driving them along the broad trail left by the hundreds of travois.
Chaske made slowly towards the tepee, and stopping outside, stood and
listened. Not a sound could he hear. The only living thing he saw was
Pretty Feather's spotted horse tied to the side of the tent. Then he
knew that she must be dead. He rode off into the thick brush and tied
his two horses securely. Then he came back and entered the tepee. There
on a bed of robes lay some one apparently dead. The body was wrapped
in blankets and robes and bound around and around with parfleche ropes.
These he carefully untied and unwound. Then he unwrapped the robes and
blankets and when he uncovered the face, he saw, as he had expected
to, the face of his lost love, Pretty Feather. As he sat gazing on her
beautiful young face, his heart ached for his poor friend. He himself
had loved and lost this beautiful maiden, and now his friend who had won
her would have to suffer the untold grief which he had suffered.

What was that? Could it have been a slight quivering of the nostrils
that he had seen, or was it mad fancy playing a trick on him? Closer
he drew to her face, watching intently for another sign. There it was
again, only this time it was a long, deep drawn breath. He arose, got
some water and taking a small stick slowly forced open her mouth and
poured some into it. Then he took some sage, dipped it into the water
and sprinkled a little on her head and face. There were many parfleche
bags piled around the tepee, and thinking he might find some kind of
medicine roots which he could use