“Yes, you’ll find out easy enough; just let the Crows get hold of you—”
“Jus’ so!” interrupted Abe, with a shrewd smile, “but I ain’t in a hurry to have that happen. My top-knot is well enough as it is, an’ I don’t intend that any Crow shall lift my ha’r if I can prevent it. I’ll give ’em pretty considerable of a tussle first. But, I say, you took a long walk last night; did you an’ the little gal come to an understanding?”
“Yes,” answered Dave, a smile lighting up his features.
“Wal, I thought it probable that you settled matters; but, I say, Dave, don’t give the red devils a chance at you ag’in.”
“Don’t fear; but I did not think that there was the slightest danger. I don’t believe that there’s another red-skin on the plains that would have dared to attempt it.”
“We ain’t seen the last of him yet,” said Abe, gravely. “If we don’t have a big fight afore we reach the head-waters of the Yellowstone, then I’m a sucker an’ no Injun-fighter.”
“I agree with you,” said Dave, “but it will take a big party to clean us out. We ought to be able to whip a couple of hundred red-skins at the least.”
“That’s so, Dave. This fellow being around the fort looks mighty suspicious; he was on a spying expedition to see how big a party we were. He’s a long-headed Injun, is this ‘White Vulture’; he knows if he can only flax out the ‘Crow-Killer,’ it will be a big feather in his cap among his nation. An’ my opinion is, that he’ll try mighty hard to do that; so we must keep our eyes open. I reckon they won’t trouble us until after we get past the Big Horn river, but, arter that time look out for lightning. In about two days, if I don’t miss my calculations, we’ll have Injuns all around us, thick as fleas in a Mexican ranche.”
So, on went the wagon-train—Abe and Dave keeping a sharp look-out over the rolling prairie.
At noon the train halted for a couple of hours for rest and food. At two o’clock, the train was again in motion, the vigilance of the guides increasing as they progressed further into the prairie waste.