"If the ponies begin to call we must make the signal, and be ready to rush ahead," said the Ogalala.
When they finally saw the black, indistinct outlines of the corral, they stopped to listen. They knew that the lodges at the end of the camp were less than half a bowshot away. The slightest sound, therefore, might arouse the Blackfeet. White Otter turned to Little Raven.
"Get down from your pony," he whispered.
They dismounted and left their ponies with the two warriors who accompanied them. Then they moved swiftly toward the corral. They were within bow length of it when they heard the quick barks of the little gray fox some distance toward the east. Their hearts bounded at the sound. Sitting Eagle and his companions were ready to run off the ponies. White Otter rushed to the corral. He turned in dismay. The corral was empty.
At that instant a horse whinnied in the Blackfeet camp. The Sioux ponies replied. A dog barked. Voices sounded close at hand. The Blackfeet were alarmed. Realizing that further caution was useless, White Otter sounded the signal.
"Run to the ponies!" he cried to Little Raven.
They heard their comrades riding forward to meet them. They also heard the thunder of many hoofs, and the wild yells of the Blackfeet. Springing upon his pony, White Otter raced recklessly toward the camp. Little Raven followed him. They found the village in wild disorder. The Blackfeet had been completely surprised.
Out on the plain Sitting Eagle and his companions were driving away the captured ponies. The raid had been entirely successful, and the elated Sioux were already many arrow flights beyond the camp. Behind them Sun Bird and his force of fighting men were loitering within bowshot of the village, watching for White Otter with the other bunch of ponies. When he failed to appear, Sun Bird rode toward the corral to find him. He encountered the two warriors who had accompanied the Ogalala on his perilous mission.
"Where are the ponies? Where is White Otter? Where is Little Raven?" Sun Bird asked, excitedly.
"That place was empty," they told him. "White Otter and Little Raven rode away toward the Blackfeet camp."