ve tribes tell
us the same thing. We do not know what tribe owns this prairie; but we
do know that friends are always welcome in the Pawnee country, and we
bring presents for our brave brothers, presents of beads and colored
cloth and glasses that show a man his spirit."

"The white chief speaks well; but my braves are angry."

"And my young men are angry because they could not sleep and their
animals were frightened like the Comanches are frightened by the
Pawnees," replied Woodson. "They are hot-headed and are angry at me
because I would not let them make war on our friends, the Pawnees."

"The young men of the Pawnees have not the wisdom of years and did not
know the white men were friends, and had brought them presents of horses
and powder and whiskey."

"I have told my young men that the Pawnees are friends. We did not think
we would meet our red brothers and have horses only for ourselves. Our
whiskey and powder are for the great Pawnee chiefs; our beads and cloth
for their young men."

"It is well," replied the chief. After a moment's silence he looked
keenly into Woodson's eyes. "The Pawnees are sad. White Bear and two of
our young men have not returned to their people." His eyes flashed and a
tenseness seized him and his companions. "Great Eagle wants to know if
his white friends have seen them?"

"Great Eagle's friends found three brave Pawnees in front of their
thunder guns and they feared our young men would fire the great medicine
rifles and hurt the Pawnees. We sent out and brought White Bear and his
warriors to our camp and treated them as welcome guests. Each of them
shall have a horse and a musket, with powder and ball, that they will
not misunderstand our roughness."

At that moment yells broke out on all sides of the encampment and
warriors were seen dashing west along the trail. A well-armed caravan of
twenty-two wagons crawled toward the creek, and Woodson secretly
exulted. It was the annual fur caravan from Bent's Fort to the Missouri
settlements and every member of it was an experienced man.

The fur train did not seem to be greatly excited by the charging horde,
for it only interposed a line of mounted men between the wagons and the
savages. The two leaders wheeled and rode slowly off to meet the Indians
and soon a second parley was taking place. After a little time the fur
caravan, which had moved steadily ahead, reached the encampment and
swiftly formed on one side of it. With the comi