"Keep watching," cautioned White Otter. "Perhaps those scouts will follow us."
The Kiowas, however, showed no intention of riding after them. One of the scouts was racing toward the war party. The Sioux believed he had gone for instructions. They kept looking back to see what he would do after he had talked with his companions.
"See, see, he is riding back to that gully," cried Little Raven. "Perhaps they are going to follow us."
"No, I do not believe it," said Sun Bird.
The war party was moving on toward the north. A few moments afterward the scout rejoined his companion. Then they, too, rode northward along the top of the ravine. It was apparent that the Kiowas had decided to pay no further attention to the Sioux.
"The Kiowas are sly," declared White Otter. "I cannot tell what they propose to do. Perhaps they are going to the lodges of my people. Perhaps they are trying to fool us. We must follow them and find out about it."
When the Sioux finally reached the ridge, the Kiowas had already disappeared into a dip of the plain. Once over the ridge, White Otter and Sun Bird left their ponies with Little Raven, and climbed the slope to watch. They had little doubt that the crafty Kiowa scouts were similarly employed far away to the northward.
"Now I will tell you why I came here," said White Otter. "I do not believe the Kiowas know who we are. I believe they take us for scouts. Perhaps they take us for Cheyennes. The Cheyenne village is behind us. I came this way to make them believe we were going there. When those scouts do not see us, they will believe we have gone away. Then they will go ahead. We will follow them."
"It is good," Sun Bird told him.
They had not watched long, however, before White Otter became impatient. He realized that he was wasting valuable time. He wondered if he had blundered. If the Kiowas really intended to go to the Ogalala camp, he feared that he had given them a big advantage. They were a long distance ahead of him, and he knew that it would be necessary to ride hard to beat them to the goal. The thought shook his confidence. He began to doubt the wisdom of his maneuver. Each moment added to his uncertainty. He studied the plain for a way to follow the war party without being seen. The ridge offered the only opportunity. It extended a considerable distance toward the north, and by riding along the east side of it he believed he might again come in sight of his foes.