purpose was to apprise Hay-uta
the moment they appeared, when without a second's delay, the two would
dash off, leaving their prisoner to return to his friends. In the event
of such an issue, as it would be impossible to make a friend of their
captive, the Sauk favored sending a bullet through him before parting;
but Deerfoot was so emphatic in protesting against such savagery, that
Hay-uta promised to obey him.

Succeeding events left no doubt that the prisoner did precisely as
ordered by his captor; that is to say, he recalled his first signal and
notified his comrades that he had no need of their presence.

When, some minutes later, several of the Pawnees straggled back to camp,
they found Red Wolf and Lone Bear awaiting them. The former looked as if
he had been put to soak for several days in the river, while Lone Bear
was weak from the fright he had received. He did not blush, when he made
the statement that the young demon had appeared but a few minutes before
on the margin of the wood, accompanied by seven warriors, and that they
instantly opened by launching arrow after arrow in the direction of the
Pawnees.

Red Wolf said that he hastened to the river bank with a view of securing
a spot from which to reconnoiter their enemies, but he caught his foot
in a root and fell into the water; that accounted for his moist
condition.

The warrior had hardly reached that point in his narrative, when he
perceived that he had gone too far. Indian scouts, when stealing along
the banks of a stream, are not apt to roll into it and under the
surface, either accidentally or for the fun of the thing. The Pawnee,
therefore, told the truth, except that he joined Lone Bear in declaring
that their foe was accompanied by seven others, who seemed as eager as
he to slay them.

It would seem that the fact that none of the other Pawnees had
discovered any of the seven, would have discredited the statement of Red
Wolf and Lone Bear; but the two were so strenuous in their declaration
that it produced the effect desired. Some of the listeners believed
there was a large party of enemies at hand, and prudence demanded that
their own warriors should be called together and precautions taken
against surprise.

It was accordingly so done.

CHAPTER XII.

INDIAN HONOR.

By this time the sun had reached the rim of the horizon, and the shadows
were deepening under the trees. Deerfoot dropped further behind the Sauk
and Pawnee, the