"No, you must not go over there," he said. "You must keep going ahead to catch the Pawnees. If you hold back they will get to their village. Then it will be hard to run off the ponies. I am the leader. You must do as I tell you."
Red Dog repeated the message to the Cheyennes, and they dismissed the Kiowas from their thoughts. They knew that White Otter and his warriors were risking their lives to help them, and they were eager to obey his commands. Then they saw High Eagle and Running Crow riding to join them. Sun Bird and Little Raven, however, had failed to appear. White Otter felt little fear for their safety. He believed that they were scouting carefully in advance of the war party in an effort to locate the Pawnees.
"Pretty soon they will come," he told Red Dog.
A few moments afterward they rode over a low ridge, and saw the two Minneconjoux scouts. They were waiting at a grove of cottonwoods. The war party raced forward to join them.
"Here is the place where the Pawnees stopped," said Sun Bird, as White Otter approached.
"Yes, I see where the ponies were feeding," replied White Otter.
He believed that the Pawnees had remained at the spot until daylight. In that event he realized that they could not be very far ahead of him. He hoped to come in sight of them before the end of the day.
"We must go on," said White Otter.
They galloped away on the trail. It led directly toward the south. As they advanced the plain became rough and broken, and there were many low knolls and ridges. White Otter realized that it offered splendid protection to hostile scouts, and he became more cautious.
"Come, Sun Bird, ride ahead and keep watching the high places," he said. "I will ask Little Raven to go with you. Follow the tracks of the ponies. We will ride behind you."