CHAPTER VIII
THE ATTACK ON THE CAMP
Elated at the successful escape of the women and children, the Cheyennes awaited the Kiowas with less anxiety. They stood at the edge of the village, listening for a warning from the scouts. Some of the older boys had been appointed to stand beside the piles of brush, ready to light them at the command of their chief. A small detail of warriors surrounded the corral to prevent the Kiowas from running off the ponies. The old men kept the fires blazing fiercely in the center of the camp. Everything was ready. The Cheyennes were eager to begin the fight.
"Perhaps the Kiowas are afraid to come," laughed old Ghost Bear.
"Keep watching—they will come," Red Dog warned him.
When half of the night had passed, and they had heard nothing of the war party, some of the younger warriors began to repeat the words of Ghost Bear. The older men cautioned them against becoming too confident. They believed that the Kiowas were delaying the attack with the hope of catching them off their guard.
"The Kiowas are sharp," said Red Dog. "We must watch out or they will fool us."
Soon afterward the warriors along the southerly side of the camp called out that they had heard a signal. The bark of the little gray fox had sounded far away to the southward. The Cheyennes listened in tense silence. In a few moments the signal was repeated. They knew it had come from one of their scouts. They turned to one another in surprise. Having expected the Kiowas to approach from the west, the call in the south perplexed them.
"It is bad," said Red Dog. "The Kiowas have separated."
"Perhaps scouts went over there to find out who came to the camp," suggested Painted Weasel.