There was no one there. White Otter hurried into the grove, calling the Cheyennes. They failed to answer. He circled frantically through the timber. The grove was deserted. He was overcome with astonishment. For a moment he stood staring wildly into the shadows. Then he was roused by the sound of ponies. They were close by. He ran to the plain. Sun Bird and Little Raven met him.
"There is no one here—the Cheyennes have gone," White Otter told them.
They heard him in amazed silence. The announcement overwhelmed them. They had expected to find a strong force of Cheyennes waiting at the edge of the grove.
"Well, there is no time to talk about it," Sun Bird said, anxiously. "Listen, the Pawnees are closing in. That is why we came ahead."
"Yes, I hear them," replied White Otter. "If we stay here they will surely catch us. We must try to get away."
"It will be a hard thing to do," Sun Bird told him. "The Pawnees are all around us."
They heard the boastful war songs of their foes echoing weirdly across the plain. It was evident that the Pawnees saw little need of caution. Believing that they had trapped the Cheyennes in the timber, they were riding boldly forward to attack them. For an instant the Sioux forgot their peril in their joy at the escape of their friends. Then they realized that they had run into the trap from which the Cheyennes had apparently escaped.
"The Pawnees are getting close, we must go," said White Otter.
"Watch out for scouts," Sun Bird cautioned him.
Once again the Sioux rode carefully across the plain. This time they turned directly toward the east. They knew that the Pawnees were riding to meet them. There seemed little chance of avoiding an encounter. The possibilities filled them with gloomy misgivings. Once discovered, they feared that they would be surrounded and speedily annihilated. Still they believed that it would have been even more perilous to have taken shelter in the grove. Their one chance was to slip between the Pawnees in the darkness.