“Ox-team and white men. We must wait for them.”
“How can they get away from the Indians on an ox-team?” asked Bill.
“They can’t,” explained Barker, “except by a lucky accident. If any Indians see them, they are lost.”
When the ox-team came within half a mile of the knoll, Tatanka pointed to the west.
“Look,” he said, “now we must fight.”
Three Indians on horseback were coming across the prairie directly toward the white men, who tried to whip the oxen into a run so as to reach the wooded knoll.
“Get on your horses,” commanded Barker, and the four riders threw themselves quickly between the team and the Sioux.
When the trapper fired a shot at the Sioux, the three Indians turned and then dispersed themselves around the team. They fired their guns, but the bullets all fell short.
On the wagon were two men and several women and children, and the party had been traveling all night.
The Indians followed the team for an hour, but as the party kept to the open prairie, the Sioux at last fell behind and gave up the pursuit.