Lost with Lieutenant Pike / How from the Pawnee Village the boy named Scar Head marched with the young American Chief clear into the Snowy Mountains; how in the dead of winter they searched for the Lost River and thought that they had found it; and how the Spanish Soldiery came upon them and took them down to Santa Fé of New Mexico, where another surprise awaited them

by Edwin L. Sabin

“Ask it, and maybe you will know more than we do.”

“Who brought it?”

“That is none of our affair; nor of yours, either. It was here when we came out.”

“It had not been here very long,” added the young squaw, to the elder. “See? The ground is only little trampled.”

“If you want to know where it came from,” continued the old squaw, to Scar Head, “you should trail it back, instead of asking silly questions.”

“Yes, and get into trouble. A gift is a gift, and not to be doubted,” the young squaw added.

At this, Scar Head ran off, to the river, for his morning swim. When he returned, Chief Charakterik and the American soldier were up and out, too, and surveying the horse.

“Do you know where this horse came from?” White Wolf questioned, of his wives.

“No. It was here. That is all.”

“The man who stole the horse from the Americans has returned it,” declared White Wolf. “Good. Is this the horse you are waiting for?” he asked, of the soldier.