"They are our friends, the Cheyennes," Sun Bird said, excitedly. "Come, we must catch up with them."
"I cannot tell who they are, but I believe they are the Cheyennes," White Otter told him.
They told Little Raven to bring the ponies. Then they rode impulsively across the plain. Their eagerness to overtake the hunters made them reckless. They raced after the distant horsemen at top speed. They passed a cluster of trees but took little notice of them. Convinced that they had found the Cheyennes, their one desire was to overtake them. Buffaloes and hunters had disappeared into a dip of the plain.
"They are riding fast, it will be hard to catch them," declared Sun Bird.
The hunters apparently had failed to notice them. The Sioux were somewhat surprised. They had expected to be discovered when they rode over the ridge. White Otter became suspicious.
"It is mysterious," he said.
They had begun to ascend the hill over which the hunters had disappeared. Great clouds of dust rose to the westward. It was evident that the chase was still continuing. Then White Otter suddenly glanced back across the plain. He stopped his pony and cried out in alarm.
"Stop!" he shouted.
A small company of horsemen were riding after them. They appeared to have come from the little grove of trees. The Sioux studied them with grave suspicion. At first they took them for Cheyenne scouts. As they came nearer, however, White Otter became doubtful.
"Watch out," he warned. "Perhaps we have run into a trap."