Brinton placed his foot in the stirrup, and swung himself astride of the intelligent beast, who capered with pleasure at feeling his master once more in the saddle.
Now that such good fortune had come to the youth, he grew anxious about the dear ones from whom he had been so strangely separated.
There was something in the way in which they had drifted apart that perplexed him. The interval in which it occurred was so brief that he could not believe they were far asunder. The arrival of Jack strengthened this belief, and now that he was in the saddle again, he peered around in the gloom, half expecting their forms to take shape and come forward to greet him.
The partial clearing of the sky continued. No snow-flakes drifted against him, but the moaning wind was as biting and frigid as ever. The straining gaze, however, could see nothing of horse or person, though he clung to the belief that they were not far away.
But with that conviction came the other of the nearness of the dreaded red men. He had left them on the bank of the Big Cheyenne, which was not distant; and, failing to find him there, it was natural for them to suspect the trick by which he had escaped.
But nothing was to be done by sitting motionless on his horse. He ventured to pronounce the name of his father, and then his mother, increasing the loudness of the tone to an imprudent degree. This was done repeatedly, but no answering call was borne back to him.
Sound could not travel far against the wind on such a blustery night, and they might be within a hundred yards without his being able to hear them or they to hear him.
He had absolutely no guide or clue, and despair began to creep into his heart. He asked himself what the result was to be if the aimless wandering should continue through the night.
With the rise of the sun, Pine Ridge would be still a good day's ride away, and it was too much to hope that they would be permitted to gallop unchallenged through the reservation.
"Jack," said he, addressing his pony in the odd familiar way to which he was accustomed, "I can do nothing; you will have to help us out. So now show what you can do."