"My people, you have heard the words of Feather Dog. He has told you that our brothers, the great chief Laughing Bird and his people, are coming here. It is good. I will ask you to open your lodges to them. Pretty soon you will see Laughing Bird and some great warriors come across the plain. We will go to meet them. Feather Dog, I will ask you to go back and tell Laughing Bird that Curly Horse will ride out to meet him. I have finished," said the Minneconjoux war chief.
As Feather Dog raced away with a message of welcome, Curly Horse went slowly about the group of Minneconjoux fighting men selecting the warriors whom he wished to accompany him. He chose twenty-five of the most renowned men of the tribe, and ordered them to prepare themselves to meet Laughing Bird and his escort. The warriors rushed to their lodges to array themselves in all their finery, while the boys brought in their fastest ponies, which the women proceeded to decorate with feathers and strips of fur.
When the escort for Curly Horse finally assembled in the center of the village they made a striking appearance, and the people greeted them with shouts of approval. They were a splendid-looking body of men, and the eyes of the Minneconjoux chief flashed with pride as he inspected them. Then he called Rain Crow to his side, and together they led the gallant little company from the camp. As they cantered slowly across the plain, the people watching from the border of the village saw another company of riders appear on the summit of a ridge to the north. These horsemen watched the Minneconjoux a few minutes, and then they galloped forward to meet them.
"See, Laughing Bird and his warriors are coming to talk with our people," said Sun Bird, as he stood at the edge of the camp with White Otter. "When those people come here you will see a great man."
The two chiefs advanced with their escorts until they were less than a bow-shot apart, and then each halted his followers and rode forward alone. They met and clasped hands, and after a complimentary exchange of greetings they signaled their warriors to join them. The latter appeared to splendid advantage as they moved slowly forward in perfect alignment, each rider sitting erect and dignified on his prancing pony, with his great war bonnet of eagle feathers reaching almost to the ground behind him. They had streaked the upper part of their bodies with colored clay, and had dressed themselves in their finest ceremonial attire. Each warrior carried his coup-stick with its complement of fluttering eagle feathers so that all who saw him might instantly recognize him as a man of courage and valor. The two companies of fighting men stopped a short distance apart while Curly Horse and Laughing Bird addressed them. The former welcomed the Uncapapa war chief and his escort and invited the Uncapapas to make their camp beside his village. Laughing Bird accepted the invitation with proper courtesy, and immediately dispatched a courier to bring his people, who were waiting far out on the plain. Then, after all the warriors had greeted one another and exchanged the customary compliments, the entire company cantered toward the Minneconjoux camp.
"Now you will hear some good words," said Sun Bird, as he and White Otter hurried to join the warriors who had assembled before the council lodge to receive the visitors.
Laughing Bird and his warriors received a royal welcome from the Minneconjoux. Much time was consumed in making speeches and exchanging greetings, but White Otter gave little attention to the talk. He was more interested in studying these distant tribesmen whom he had never seen. He saw that the Uncapapa chief was a young man, tall and wiry, with an alert, fearless face which was somewhat disfigured by a great scar extending entirely across the left cheek from ear to chin. The young Ogalala believed that it was the record of some thrilling combat, and he hoped to hear the story. The warriors who accompanied Laughing Bird were superb specimens of manhood. They were slighter and considerably taller than the Minneconjoux, but they had the Dacotah characteristics, and White Otter would have recognized them as his people even before they spoke.
However, White Otter's attention was suddenly diverted by the shouts of some boys at the edge of the camp. "The Uncapapas are coming! The Uncapapas are coming!" they cried excitedly. Rushing to the border of the village, the Minneconjoux saw a great company of people advancing slowly across the plain. It was an impressive spectacle. In front were the warriors, each leading one or more ponies besides the animal he rode. Behind them came the slower pack animals, carrying the women and children and dragging the lodge poles, to which was lashed the property of the owners. Then followed the herd of unburdened animals in charge of a noisy company of youths and boys. The interesting cavalcade was flanked on all sides by stray companies of dogs of various sizes and colors, many of the larger animals dragging small loads behind them like the ponies.
Curly Horse sent a delegation of warriors to meet and welcome the Uncapapas, while Laughing Bird and his escort galloped along the stream to find a suitable camp-site. They selected a spot some distance below the Minneconjoux village, and a few minutes afterward it was the scene of bustling activity. The women soon had the horses unpacked and the lodge poles in place, and then the great buffalo-hide covers, each composed of from fifteen to twenty skins of the bull buffalo, were wrapped about the frame and the shelter was completed. In the meantime the older women and the children were searching through the timber for fuel, while the warriors walked about giving orders to the boys who were busy picketing the riding ponies, and stretching rawhide lariats between the trees to form a temporary corral for the pack animals. In spite of these various activities, however, there was little confusion, and by the time the evening shadows settled upon the plain the great Uncapapa camp was entirely in order.
At nightfall the Minneconjoux and the Uncapapas began to exchange visits, and as both camps vied with each other in the number and bounteousness of their feasts, the people had little chance to rest. In the meantime the Buffalo Dance drew fresh recruits from the Uncapapas, and the entire night was passed in ceremony and celebration. Dawn was already breaking in the east as Sun Bird and White Otter finally stole away to Rain Crow's lodge for a few winks of sleep.