  When Little Eagle awoke the next morning, he was surprised to find the ground covered with a light blanket of snow. “Old-man-of-the-north sent snow early,” Angry Wolf said, as he crawled out of the shelter. “It isn’t much,” Little Eagle pointed out. “It’s enough to be a warning to us,” Angry Wolf answered. “Old-man-of-the-north sent it to warn us that we should hurry to the winter camp.” “Maybe he sent it to tell us that he would send more to cover our tracks, if we take horses from the Crows,” Little Eagle suggested. Angry Wolf looked at him questioningly. Little Eagle wondered if that was fear he saw in his friend’s eyes. Since he had been wounded by the Crows, Angry Wolf had acted strangely every time the Crows were mentioned. “If I can lead him in a successful raid against the Crows, he will be as brave as he has always been,” Little Eagle thought to himself, but he said nothing more to Angry Wolf. “I’ll try to get fresh meat while you build a fire,” Angry Wolf offered. Little Eagle watched as Angry Wolf left camp. It was surprising how much better Angry Wolf had become in the last two days. He seemed as strong as he had ever been. It was hard to believe that less than a moon ago he had been seriously wounded. By the time Little Eagle had a cheerful fire going, Angry Wolf returned to camp with an antelope on his shoulder. “Hunting is good,” Angry Wolf said, with a pleased smile. “This will be food enough until we get a buffalo.” As soon as they had finished eating, Little Eagle brought the horses into camp. The sun had risen in a clear sky and already was melting the snow. Angry Wolf had made two packages of the meat. One he had wrapped in the hide of the antelope he had shot and the other in Little Eagle’s deer hide. He handed one of the packages to Little Eagle. Little Eagle led the way. At first the route was up and down wooded hills, but soon the hills became smaller and the trees fewer. When they stopped to rest at midday, Little Eagle could see the open prairie ahead of them. “We’re really started for our winter camp now,” Angry Wolf said cheerfully. “It will be good to be in camp with the rest of our people,” Little Eagle replied, trying to forget how disappointed he was that the Crows would go so long unpunished. Several times during the afternoon the two boys sighted small herds of buffaloes. Little Eagle’s mouth watered at the sight of them. Antelope and deer steaks were good food, but not so good as buffalo. Every herd of buffaloes that they sighted lumbered away before the riders were within bowshot. Little Eagle knew that although the buffaloes could not see far, their keen noses quickly caught the scent of enemies. If the wind had been blowing from the other direction, he and Angry Wolf would have had a chance to get one of the animals. The sun was sliding down behind some clouds in the west when Little Eagle and Angry Wolf reached a small stream. There were a few trees along its banks. The trees would provide shelter and their branches could be used for fuel. “Shall I start building a shelter?” Angry Wolf asked. As Little Eagle looked at the clouds climbing in the western sky, he thought how much Angry Wolf had come to depend upon him to make all of the decisions. “The trees will protect us,” he replied. “With my deerskin over us, we’ll be dry even if it should snow.” While Angry Wolf cooked meat for their meal, Little Eagle made a pile of dry leaves for their bed. Both of them were so tired that as soon as they had eaten they put out the fire, crawled into the bed of leaves, and pulled the deerskin over them. When Little Eagle awoke the next morning, he saw that the branches of the tree were wet and the ground around was, too. However, he and Angry Wolf had been warm and dry in their bed. He was pleased that there was no snow. Perhaps Old-man-of-the-north would let them cross the prairie before he blew snow with his icy breath. Little Eagle led the way across the open prairie. At midday he and Angry Wolf stopped for their usual rest. They had come a long distance that morning, but they had seen only one clump of trees. While they were resting, Little Eagle watched a bank of clouds forming in the northwest. “Will we be rained on again this afternoon?” Angry Wolf asked. “Rain will not matter,” Little Eagle answered uneasily. “To me, the air has a feel as if Old-man-of-the-north’s cold wind was behind that cloud. It may be a long way to the next camping place. It would not be good to be on the prairie if there is much snow.” Angry Wolf looked doubtfully around the prairie where they were resting. “It couldn’t catch us in a much poorer place than this,” he said. “That’s true,” Little Eagle agreed. “We’ll keep going.” When they started again, Little Eagle wondered what caused his feeling of uneasiness. The air was warmer. There didn’t seem to be any reason for thinking that snow would fall. Even when the rain started, Little Eagle was not too uncomfortable. Later in the afternoon the rain felt colder. However, when the boys were chilled, they jumped from their horses and trotted beside them. As soon as they were warm, they remounted. There was still some daylight left when they reached a small, tree-lined stream. “This is the place for us to camp,” Little Eagle called cheerfully. The two boys made camp quickly. As soon as they had a fire going, they built a shelter. It was dark by the time they had the shelter finished. It was while they were eating that the drops of rain began to change to flakes of snow. In a short time the northwest wind was driving the snow with stinging force. “It is fortunate that we found this place,” Little Eagle said. “We may have to stay here several days.” The next morning it looked as though Little Eagle’s prediction would come true. The wind was still driving the snow before it. A drift had buried the boys’ fire and the pile of wood. They had to scrape the snow from the wood and work carefully to get dry shavings to start a new fire. Little Eagle noticed that Angry Wolf was restless and disturbed because of the delay. “Old-man-of-the-north may send much snow,” Little Eagle told him, “but it won’t matter. In a few days much of it will melt. Then we can travel easily.” “If Old-man-of-the-north sends one snow, he will send others,” Angry Wolf protested. “We may be caught on the prairie.” “This will be the last snow of this moon,” Little Eagle stated with certainty. Angry Wolf seemed much encouraged by Little Eagle’s words. He took his quiver of arrows and began smoothing some of the arrows. Little Eagle spent his time rewrapping the hand grip on his bow. About midday the snow slackened, and soon afterward it almost stopped. Little Eagle stood up and looked about. In some places drifts of snow had been piled high. In others, the ground had been swept almost bare. Although the wind was cold, rays of sunshine filtered through the clouds. “I’m going to see about our horses,” Little Eagle announced. “I’ll finish scraping my arrows unless you want me to go with you,” Angry Wolf decided. “I’ll go alone,” Little Eagle answered. “They aren’t far away.” However, Little Eagle walked a considerable distance from camp without finding a trace of the horses. He couldn’t even find the trail they had left when they wandered away. When the sun was getting low in the western sky, Little Eagle turned back toward camp. On the way back, he wondered what words he would use to tell Angry Wolf so that the other boy would not be too alarmed at the danger of their situation. Little Eagle didn’t try to hide from himself the fact that they were in grave danger. Here in the middle of the prairie, with no horses, they might not be able to get enough game to keep them alive through the winter. Oddly enough, Angry Wolf was not greatly disturbed when Little Eagle announced that he hadn’t been able to find the horses. “They probably drifted ahead of the storm,” Angry Wolf said calmly. “In the morning we’ll both look for them.” The next morning the two boys left camp together. When they had gone about a third of the distance Little Eagle had covered the day before, they halted. “You’d better go south here,” Little Eagle suggested. “I’ll go farther east and then I’ll turn south.” Little Eagle went almost as far east as he had gone yesterday before he turned south. He plodded slowly through the deep snow. He climbed and crossed many low hills without finding the horses. As he climbed to the top of another hill, he decided he would turn back toward Angry Wolf and search the ground between them. From the top of the hill Little Eagle could see a clump of trees below him. It was possible that the horses were crowded into the shelter of the trees and were hidden from his sight. He decided to look behind the trees. When Little Eagle circled the trees, he saw the tracks of the horses leading south. He hurried forward to get a better look at the trail they had left. He saw that the horses had left the grove while snow was still falling. Their tracks were partly covered with snow. He stopped in dismay when he saw that the tracks had been made by three horses. Little Eagle made a quick search under the trees. He found where someone had camped during the worst of the storm. He was not good enough at tracking to read all of the signs, but he could read enough of them to tell that someone had been camping here and that the horses had wandered to the shelter of the trees during the storm. Whoever had been here had taken the horses and ridden on while the snow was still falling. It didn’t take any sign reading for Little Eagle to realize how great a misfortune had befallen Angry Wolf and himself. There was no hope that they could get the horses back. It would be equally hopeless to try to cross the prairie on foot. They would have to turn back to where there were more trees. He and Angry Wolf would have to spend the winter by themselves. Little Eagle turned west to find Angry Wolf’s trail. When he reached it, he followed it south. He went as swiftly as he could go. Angry Wolf glanced back and saw him. The other boy turned back to meet Little Eagle. “Where are the horses?” Angry Wolf asked. “Someone took them,” Little Eagle answered. As Little Eagle told of the trail he had found, he closely watched Angry Wolf’s face. He saw fear in the other boy’s eyes, and he tried to make his voice cheerful. “It was a Crow warrior who took our horses,” Angry Wolf said hopelessly when Little Eagle had finished. “The Crows have powerful medicine.” “We have to get those horses back,” Little Eagle urged. Little Eagle spoke with a confidence he didn’t feel. He had no plan for getting the horses, yet he knew he must say something to encourage Angry Wolf. “The Crows have powerful medicine,” Angry Wolf repeated. “Old-man-of-the-north might send another snow to keep the Crow in camp until we get our horses back from him,” Little Eagle suggested. Angry Wolf glanced around the sky. “There’ll be no more snow this moon,” he said. “We may as well return to our camp.” Without a word, Little Eagle turned back toward their own camp. While Angry Wolf was in this mood, it would do no good to argue with him. Perhaps when he had eaten and rested, he would see that their best hope to escape would be to get their horses back from the Crow. As soon as they reached camp, Angry Wolf began to slice thin pieces of meat and put them on a stick. Little Eagle saw that Angry Wolf was cooking enough food for a trip. “It would be foolish for us to try to cross the prairie on foot,” he said quietly. Angry Wolf nodded agreement. “Our best plan is to return to the camp we had on the creek,” he said. “I’m preparing extra food in case we have trouble reaching the place.” While Little Eagle busied himself with work around the camp, he turned the problem over in his mind. He knew Angry Wolf would agree to wait until morning to start the return trip. In the meantime he had to think of a plan to get their horses from the Crow. It would have to be a good plan if it convinced Angry Wolf. Angry Wolf had said that the Crows had powerful medicine. Yet the two of them had spoiled the Crow plan to attack the Sioux camp. Perhaps their own medicine was as strong as that of the Crows. Little Eagle sat down a few paces from the fire. He wanted to think more about this problem. He tried to imagine what advice Clawing Bear would give. When the answer came, it was almost as if Clawing Bear were speaking to him. He had the deer hide. It was powerful medicine. He should take the hide and go away from camp. If he rolled himself up in the deer hide and slept, he might have a dream which would tell him what to do. He told his thoughts to Angry Wolf. “You have studied under the great medicine man, Clawing Bear,” Angry Wolf said thoughtfully. “You should know more about these matters than I. Yet, if you don’t get a clear dream, we ought to start back to the old camp at daylight.” As soon as darkness fell, Little Eagle carried his deer hide to the top of a high hill. He was so far from camp that he couldn’t see the twinkle of the fire. When he had thought of the plan, Little Eagle hadn’t thought of the danger. As he pulled the deer hide over him, he felt uneasy. He had never had a visit from a spirit. Suppose he was frightened? It would be a disgrace for a Sioux boy to show fear. At first he moved about restlessly. The wind seemed to creep under the hide and keep him cold. After a time he had the deer hide arranged so that the wind didn’t get under it. As soon as he was warm, he grew drowsy. He had almost fallen asleep when a faint sighing noise aroused him. He listened tensely. After a few minutes he realized the sound was made by the wind sifting snow against the deer hide. He closed his eyes and fell asleep. Afterward Little Eagle was never sure whether he woke up, as he seemed to do, or whether the whole thing was a dream. At least it was so real that it seemed to happen. He felt cold. When he opened his eyes he saw that it was still dark. He realized that the deer hide had slipped off his shoulder. He reached his hand out to grasp it and pull it back over his shoulder. He stopped when a soft voice spoke to him. “Get up, Little Eagle,” the voice said. “I’ll show you how you can get horses from the Crows. They are my enemies too.” Little Eagle sat up. It wasn’t as dark as he had thought. The eastern sky was beginning to lighten. It wouldn’t be long until the sun came up. Little Eagle looked around, but he could see no one. The only living thing near was a small bird which sat huddled on his deerskin. When the voice spoke again, Little Eagle saw that it was the bird speaking. “The Crows have killed many buffaloes,” the bird said. “They are gorged with food. It will be easy to take horses from them.” Little Eagle scrambled to his feet. He could dash back to camp and get Angry Wolf. Together they would follow the bird and get horses. He reached down to pick up the deer hide to carry it back to camp. “Put it under that tree,” the bird said, nodding his head toward a tree in the direction away from the camp. “My family will use it to build warm nests for the winter which is almost here.” Little Eagle folded the skin neatly. The bird flew ahead and perched on a limb while Little Eagle placed the hide at the foot of the tree. The bird flew off to the west. He went so quickly that Little Eagle didn’t have time to ask for permission to get Angry Wolf. He had to run to keep the bird in sight. While it didn’t seem that they had traveled long, the sun was down and darkness had fallen when they reached the Crow camp. The camp had been set up on the sheltered side of a grove of trees. The smell of roasting buffalo meat made Little Eagle’s mouth water. A few Crows were feasting on the fresh buffalo meat. Little Eagle knew that most of the band had stuffed themselves with fresh meat and had crawled into their tepees to sleep. The bird flew around the Crow camp, and Little Eagle followed him. In a short time they came to the herd of horses. Little Eagle saw the ones that belonged to Angry Wolf and him. He guessed that the warrior who had taken them had gone south until the storm stopped and then had circled to join the Crows in this camp. “See how easily you can take all the horses you want,” the bird whispered. Little Eagle looked around. What the bird said was true. There were no guards. Most of the horses were out of sight of the camp. Anyone who used reasonable care could take horses from this herd. Little Eagle didn’t know what happened after that. He was chilly and he awoke to find that the deer hide had slipped from his shoulder. He sat up. The sun was just rising over the eastern hills. His dream had been so plain that for a moment he couldn’t believe it had been a dream. Little Eagle’s first feeling was of disappointment. It had been a dream and he didn’t actually have the horses. The feeling of disappointment passed quickly. He had heard Clawing Bear tell of the messages that came to a medicine man in dreams. This was a message for him. He had learned how he and Angry Wolf could get horses. He jumped to his feet and raced to camp. Angry Wolf had already risen. He was cooking more meat at the fire. He looked sad and dejected as Little Eagle ran into camp. “You had a message?” he asked doubtfully when he saw Little Eagle’s excitement. Little Eagle nodded. Eagerly, he related what had happened in his dream. When he had finished, he saw that Angry Wolf was still unconvinced. “Was the messenger a blackbird?” Angry Wolf demanded. “No,” Little Eagle answered. “It was—” He stopped. In his excitement he hadn’t noticed what kind of a bird it had been. He was sure it wasn’t a blackbird. He would have known better than to follow one of those bringers of misfortune, even in a dream. Then he remembered that the bird had said, “The Crows are my enemies too.” “It was a mud swallow,” Little Eagle exclaimed. “It told me that the Crows were its enemies too.” “That is better,” Angry Wolf admitted. “The Crows shoot the swallows, and we never do.” “Then you are ready to accept the sign and try to get horses from the Crows?” Little Eagle demanded. “I’m not sure it is a sign,” Angry Wolf answered slowly. “It may just be a dream with no meaning.” He stood up. “We have to have horses, though. I am willing to try.” In spite of Angry Wolf’s doubts, Little Eagle was so excited that he could hardly eat. He reminded himself that it had been a long journey in his dream. He would need all of his strength, so he forced himself to eat as much as if he were hungry. As soon as Angry Wolf was ready, Little Eagle led the way. He went to the hill where he had spent the night. He picked up the deerskin, folded it carefully, and put it under the tree, as he had done in his dream. In his dream Little Eagle had gone so swiftly that he hadn’t noticed the landmarks. Now there was nothing to guide him. He remembered that he had gone west and a little south. He tried to take the same direction. As the sun began to sink low in the west, Angry Wolf watched anxiously ahead. “We should be nearing the place,” he said. “It was almost dark when the bird and I got there,” Little Eagle answered. “We can go many paces before darkness falls.” “You said the Crows were camped near trees,” Angry Wolf reminded him. “We have seen no trees since we started.” The same fear had been nagging at Little Eagle. In his dream the Crows had been camped behind a grove of trees. Yet he and Angry Wolf had traveled all day without seeing trees and there seemed to be none ahead. The two of them came to the top of a high hill. Far ahead of them they saw a grove of trees. “That must be the place,” Little Eagle exclaimed. “We’d better rest and eat,” Angry Wolf suggested. “We can’t take horses until after darkness falls.” They found a place where the sun had melted the snow and dried the ground. Here they ate the cold meat they had brought with them. For the first time since they had started, Angry Wolf seemed to think they had a chance to succeed. “When we have horses again, we’ll hunt buffaloes,” Angry Wolf said. “No other meat is so good,” Little Eagle answered. They rested until the darkness was heavy enough to hide their movements. It didn’t take them long to reach the grove of trees. They could see the gleam of campfires on the other side of the grove. The two Sioux slipped among the trees until they reached a place where they could see the Crow camp. There were several campfires, and chunks of buffalo meat were roasting over each of them. Some warriors were sitting around, gorging on fresh meat. Others had evidently stuffed themselves and crawled into their tepees to sleep. As Little Eagle and Angry Wolf watched, one of the warriors got to his feet and staggered to a tepee. Little Eagle knew that sometimes warriors, who had been without food for several days, would stuff themselves with fresh meat when they had the chance. Warriors who did that would sleep soundly. He and Angry Wolf should be able to take horses without trouble. Little Eagle touched Angry Wolf’s arm. He began to circle the camp, with Angry Wolf following him. They went around the west side of the camp and continued south until they came to the herd of horses. Even in the darkness they located the two that had been taken from them. Angry Wolf took a careful look around. He motioned for Little Eagle to stay where he was. Little Eagle waited patiently as Angry Wolf slipped away in the darkness. While he was sure there were no guards watching the herd, Little Eagle realized that Angry Wolf was doing what should be done. A warrior should look for his enemies even when he didn’t expect to find them. “There are no guards,” Angry Wolf whispered when he returned. The two boys went straight to their own horses. The horses stood quietly while their riders mounted. Angry Wolf wanted to take at least ten horses apiece, but Little Eagle objected. “We’ll have a better chance to get away if we pick a few good horses,” he pointed out. “The more horses we take, the greater our victory,” Angry Wolf whispered urgently. After a few minutes of whispering together, Angry Wolf agreed to accept Little Eagle’s plan to take five horses apiece. When the horses had been selected, Angry Wolf took the halter ropes of two of them and started away from the camp. Little Eagle rode behind, herding the others. Now the wisdom of Little Eagle’s plan was plain, for even the few horses were hard to get started. Little Eagle’s horse was kept turning and plunging to hold the horses in a bunch. Angry Wolf rode straight west until he saw that Little Eagle had the herd under control. Then he turned north, as they had decided to do. There was no chance to pick a route where they wouldn’t leave a trail. Even in the places where there was no snow, the tracks of the horses could easily be seen. After they had ridden for what seemed a long time, Little Eagle called for Angry Wolf to stop. Little Eagle circled the herd and rode to his friend’s side. “We’ll turn east here,” Little Eagle ordered. “We may be able to fool the Crows into thinking we are Pawnees. If we do, they’ll turn south to cut us off. We will soon turn north again.” “We have won a great victory over the Crows,” Angry Wolf gloated. “We will win a great victory if we get away,” Little Eagle answered grimly. “The Crows will follow us when they learn of their loss.” “By that time we shall have escaped,” Angry Wolf said hopefully. Little Eagle looked at his friend in wonder. For days, Angry Wolf had been downhearted and gloomy. He had thought they had no chance against the Crows. Now that they had made this little start, Angry Wolf had completely changed. He already counted the victory won. “We won’t sing the Victory Song until we are sure we have escaped,” Little Eagle said quietly. |
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