The sun set and it set again. Raven Wing and Hawk Eye pushed on across the prairie toward the Minnesota River. They had left the trail and were veering toward the north.

"It would not be wise to make the great ford called by the white men Sioux," Hawk Eye had said. "We must come at a fair distance from there down the river to a point where the banks are high and the timber heavy."

"We will continue to journey through the night until the river is in sight," answered Raven Wing.

Hawk Eye grunted in assent. Once only did they pause for water at a spring in the midst of a clump of cottonwood trees.

As the sun rose they neared the river and soon after they were camping not far from a bluff, eating their breakfast beside a small fire, which sent so thin a column of smoke into the air that it was almost dissipated before it reached the treetops.

When the meal was over, Raven Wing said:

"I will take Ohitika and keep watch over the river while you get some sleep." Armed with his bow and arrows, he strode off toward the brow of the bluff.

Hawk Eye loaded his gun and placed it against a tree, together with powder horn and bullet pouch. Then, throwing himself at full length on the green moss beneath the tree, he fell into a sound sleep.

Scarcely a quarter of an hour had passed when he was startled by the report of a gun, which was followed by a war cry from Raven Wing and a series of war whoops. At the same instant, and before he could attempt to rise, his legs and arms were pinioned to the ground by two Indians. For a minute Hawk Eye was paralyzed. Then the terrible reality of his position, the cry of warning from Raven Wing, and the sight of the thong with which his captors were about to bind him, brought him to his senses. With a display of strength that surprised his captors, he hurled them right and left. As one of them struggled to his feet, he received a blow from Hawk Eye's tomahawk that felled him; the other, fearing for his life, dodged behind a tree.

As Hawk Eye glanced quickly around in search of his gun which no longer rested against the tree, he saw Raven Wing between the tree trunks being hurried away by two other Indians. As the arrow leaps from the bow Hawk Eye sprang forward in pursuit. The Indians saw him coming, but having dropped their guns in the scuffle with Raven Wing, they were unable to fire at Hawk Eye as he approached. At this point the Indian who had hidden behind the tree[Pg 92]
[Pg 93] threw a heavy stick which struck Hawk Eye on the back of the head with such force that he fell, bleeding and insensible, upon the ground.

When Hawk Eye recovered from the effects of the blow, he found himself lying on the cold earth in total darkness, and firmly bound hand and foot.

In vain he tried to break the leather thongs. He called loudly for Raven Wing, hoping his friend had somehow escaped and would come to his aid. But only echoes of his own voice answered him. The dreadful thought now flashed across his mind that the enemy had buried him alive in some dark cave. At length the gray dawn shone in upon him and showed that he was in a deep hollow in the bluff overhanging the river.

Again he called to Raven Wing. Scarcely had the echoes of his voice died away, when a man's figure darkened the mouth of the cave.

"Raven Wing!" cried Hawk Eye.

"Slow Dog has heard your call," answered a sneering voice. Bending over the helpless boy the Medicine Man drew a scalping knife from his belt and cut the thong that bound his feet and hands, and signed for him to rise.

With difficulty Hawk Eye stood upon his legs, numbed by long binding. He said nothing, however, observing that the sneer still played about Slow Dog's lips.

"Come," commanded the Medicine Man. Hawk Eye obeyed and followed him to the timber belt where the struggle of the previous night had taken place. Presently they came to an Indian camp. There were no tepees, but the several blankets that lay under the trees indicated where the party had lain during the night. A Chippeway Indian squatted beside a fire, holding Hawk Eye's dog by a leash.