In the meantime the distant horsemen had disappeared, and the plain seemed free of foes. The Sioux looked toward the east. They examined the tops of the knolls and ridges, and watched closely for dust, but saw nothing to convince them that the war party had gone in that direction.
"This thing is mysterious," said Sun Bird.
They realized that they were in an awkward predicament. They knew that if scouts were loitering in the vicinity of the spot where they had last seen the Kiowa war party it would be perilous to remain on the western side of the ridge. Still, if they crossed the ridge and attempted to advance along the other side they feared they would be discovered by scouts watching somewhere on that side of the plain. For some moments they were undecided as to just what to do.
"My brothers, I will tell you how I feel about this thing," Sun Bird said, suddenly. "If the Kiowas have turned toward The-place-where-the-day-begins, I do not believe they are going to the lodges of our people. If that is true, it would be foolish to follow them. I believe there are many enemies in this country. We must not stay here. Come, we will ride around and find out if the buffaloes have come into this place. Then we will go back to our people."
"Sun Bird, before we go away we must find out about this thing," White Otter told him. "Perhaps it is true that the Kiowas are not going to the lodges of my people. We are not sure about it. Perhaps they know who we are. Perhaps they turned around to fool us. Perhaps if we do not follow them they will circle around and come to the lodges of my people. My brothers, we must find out where those Kiowas are going."
"How can we do that?" inquired Little Raven. "A war party leaves scouts behind. If we try to follow the Kiowas before it gets dark those scouts will see us. If we wait until it gets dark the Kiowas will be too far away."
"Listen sharp, my brothers, and I will tell you how I propose to do this thing," said White Otter. "It would be foolish to follow along this hill. If we do that the Kiowas will see us. We will do something different. We will cross over this hill, and ride away toward The-place-where-the-day-begins. If the Kiowas are watching they will say, 'Hi, those scouts were hiding behind that hill. Now they believe we have gone away. See, they are going to tell their people about it. They are riding toward the Cheyenne camp. They must be Cheyennes.' We will keep going toward the Cheyenne lodges. Then we will circle around, and try to find the Kiowas. If we do not find them over there, we will know that they have gone to fight my people."
"It is good," agreed Sun Bird.
"We will go," said White Otter.
They crossed the ridge, and rode boldly away toward the southeast, in the direction of the Cheyenne camp. They had little doubt that sharp-eyed Kiowa scouts were watching them. They glanced back many times, but saw nothing to confirm their suspicions.