heir little flank in rear
or far in front, rode two vermilion warrior-boys, on painted ponies,
and one with an eagle-plume upright in his scalp-lock. By night two gray
wolves stood upward among the trees or lay in the plum-branches near
enough to see and to hear the living talk of the Yellow-Eyes.

Old Delaware hunters in the caravan told the white chief that they had
seen swift pony-tracks as they hunted through the hills; and that,
too, many times. The tracks showed that the ponies were strong and went
quickly--faster than they could follow on their jaded mounts. The white
chief must not trust the solitude.

But the trailing buffalo soon blotted out the pony-marks; the white
men saw only the sailing hawks, and heard only bellowing and howling
at night. Their natures responded to the lull, until two horse-herders,
sitting in the willows, grew eager in a discussion, and did not notice
at once that the ponies and mules were traveling rapidly away to the
bluffs. When the distance to which the ponies had roamed drew their
attention at last, they looked hard and put away their pipes and
gathered up their ropes. Two ponies ran hither and thither behind the
horses. There was method in their movements--were they wild stallions?
The white men moved out toward the herd, still gazing ardently; they
saw one of these ponies turn quickly, and as he did so a naked figure
shifted from one side to the other of his back.

"Indians! Indians!"

A pistol was fired--the herders galloped after.

The horse-thieves sat up on their ponies, and the long, tremulous notes
of the war-whoop were faintly borne on the wind to the camp of the
Yellow-Eyes. Looking out across the plains, they saw the herd break into
a wild stampede, while behind them sped the Bat and Red Arrow, waving
long-lashed whips, to the ends of which were suspended blown-up
buffalo-bladders, which struck the hard ground with sharp, explosive
thumps, rebounding and striking again. The horses were terrorized,
but, being worn down, could not draw away from the swift and supple
war-steeds. There were more than two hundred beasts, and the white men
were practically afoot.

Many riders joined the pursuit; a few lame horses fell out of the herd
and out of the race--but it could have only one ending with the long
start. Mile by mile the darkness was coming on, so that when they could
no longer see, the white pursuers could hear the beat of hoofs, until
that, too, passed--and their