They forced the ponies to the utmost in an effort to get beyond hearing of their foes. The Kiowas had become quiet. Even the sounds from their ponies had died away. The Sioux felt encouraged. They believed they had ridden beyond earshot of their pursuers. Still they kept the ponies to the exhausting pace, for they determined to make the most of their advantage.
"We have fooled them—it is good," laughed White Otter. "They cannot hear us. They do not know which way to go."
"White Otter, you are as sharp as To-ka-la, the fox," Sun Bird told him.
"Yes, yes, you were too sharp for the Kiowas," declared Little Raven.
"Well, my brothers, we must not feel too big about this thing," White Otter cautioned them. "The war party is ahead of us. We must watch out."
He had barely ceased speaking when they heard the wolf cry rising through the night. It sounded far behind them. Three times it echoed across the plain. They knew at once that it was a signal.
"The scouts are telling their friends about us," said White Otter.
They listened for an answer. They hoped it would give them a clew to the whereabouts of the war party. There was no reply. It was evident that the main company of Kiowas were either beyond hearing or too cautious to betray themselves. The first possibility gave the Sioux considerable concern. If the war party was beyond hearing, they realized that it was far in advance of them. They wondered if their ponies were equal to the task of overtaking their foes.
"We must go faster," White Otter said, impatiently.
The ponies were running at speed which few ponies in the Dacotah nation could equal, and the Sioux believed that if they could maintain the pace they would eventually overtake and pass the Kiowas. The gallant little beasts showed no signs of weakening, and the riders made no effort to spare them. White Otter rode a fiery little piebald which had been presented to him by Curly Horse, the war chief of the Minneconjoux Sioux. It had proved its powers on an expedition against the Blackfeet the year previous, when it outran the famous black war pony of the Blackfeet chief. Many Buffaloes. White Otter had little fear that it would fail him in the present emergency. Sun Bird rode a wiry little roan, that had proved a worthy competitor of the piebald. Little Raven was mounted upon a wild-eyed pinto, which White Otter had presented to him several years before. It, too, was famous for speed and endurance.