"It is good," resumed Curly Horse. "Now I will tell you what to do. If you live to get to the edge of that camp, you must wait there until you hear the great Dacotah war cry. When you hear that, you must rush into the camp. After that you must do whatever comes into your heart. If you get your people away, then you must keep shouting, so that we will not kill you. Yes, we will be right up to the camp. Then we will go in and take some ponies. I believe it will be a great fight. Now I have told you all I know about it."
"Curly Horse, I will keep your words in my heart," White Otter assured the Minneconjoux chief. "I see that the great chief, Laughing Bird, is standing beside you. Well, I will ask him if he has any words."
"My young brother, I am not the leader of this great war party," replied Laughing Bird. "Curly Horse has told you what to do. It is enough. But I will tell you that if you do this thing, it will be something to talk about. You are standing here with those brave men who are going with you. I see that two of them are very young. It makes me feel sad. Perhaps I will never see any of you again. I see that four of you are Ogalalas, and two of you are Minneconjoux. I am an Uncapapa, but you all are my brothers. Yes, we are Dacotahs. The Dacotahs have hearts like the bear. It is good. Go. I have finished."
Soon afterward White Otter and his gallant little company rode away to risk their lives in the desperate attempt to save the Ogalala captives. Night had fallen upon the plain, and they had little fear of being discovered before they actually neared the Pawnee camp. Still, they determined to take every precaution, for they fully realized the heavy responsibility that rested upon them. White Otter and Sun Bird each led an extra war pony, for the use of Wolf Robe and Yellow Horse. They had gone some distance when they were suddenly stopped by the sharp bark of the little gray fox.
"It is a Sioux," said White Otter.
After he had repeated the signal three times, they heard the slow, measured hoof-beats of a walking pony. A few moments afterward a Minneconjoux scout appeared out of the darkness.
"Ho, my brother, Big Weasel," said Sun Bird. "You have the ears of a fox."
"Ho, my brothers," replied the Minneconjoux. "I see that you are going ahead to do something. Well, I will tell you that there are Pawnee scouts watching on the ridges near the village. Now I will ask you what you are going to do."
"We are going into that camp, to help Wolf Robe and Yellow Horse," White Otter told him. "Yes, we will wait near the lodges until we hear the great war cry of our people. Then we will rush ahead to keep the Pawnees from killing our brothers."
"Well, it is a brave thing to do, but I believe you will be killed," declared Big Weasel.