The Blackfeet kept close behind them, and the Sioux were in constant peril from their arrows. Whenever the Blackfeet came too near, however, the Sioux turned upon them and fought them off. Thus they made their way across the plain until they overtook Sitting Eagle and his companions. The latter had heard them approaching, and had rounded up the ponies and prepared to fight.
"Keep going! Keep going!" shouted Sun Bird. "We will hold back the Blackfeet."
"Yes, keep going!" cried White Otter. "Run the ponies until you come to that big gully. Then wait for us."
Sitting Eagle and his company barely got the ponies under way before the Blackfeet were upon them. Sun Bird and the war party fought savagely to hold them off, but the company of Blackfeet who had ridden along the Sioux flank circled under cover of the darkness and reached the herd.
"Hold the ponies! Hold the ponies!" shouted Sitting Eagle, as the wily Blackfeet attempted to stampede them.
Yelling fiercely, they charged close up to the alarmed ponies, and threw them into wild disorder. Frightened into a panic by the noisy tumult, the bewildered animals tried to break from their captors and flee across the plain. Sitting Eagle and his companions made valiant efforts to hold them under control, but the Blackfeet were riding furiously about the herd, and making desperate efforts to kill the men who guarded it.
In the meantime Sun Bird and the Minneconjoux war party were fighting a thrilling battle with the main force of their foes. The latter had again rushed to close quarters, and the Sioux were in desperate straits. Greatly outnumbered, they fought with a reckless courage that astounded their enemies. Try as they might, the Blackfeet were unable to break through the heroic company that confronted them. Led by Many Buffaloes himself, the bravest warriors in the Blackfeet nation hurled themselves against the Sioux with a daring abandon that would have speedily routed less valiant foes. The Sioux, however, repulsed each savage attack with a dogged ferocity that gradually shattered the confidence of their foes.
Sitting Eagle and his gallant band were less successful. They found it impossible to keep the ponies under control, and at the same time defend themselves against the Blackfeet. They were threatened with disaster and began to lose heart.
"Come, Dacotahs, show these people how to fight!" cried Sitting Eagle.
At that moment White Otter led a company of Minneconjoux against the Blackfeet who had attacked the herd. Roused by the courage of the young Ogalala war chief, the Minneconjoux warriors charged furiously upon the surprised Blackfeet and completely overwhelmed them with the fierceness of their attack. For a moment only the Blackfeet opposed them, and then as White Otter drove his arrow through the leader of the company the others lost courage and retreated into the night.