"The warriors are holding a War Council now," Running Deer told Star. "Our wise old Medicine Man will tell them what the Great Spirit tells him. Then he will bless them that the strength of the Great Spirit may enter their hearts and help them conquer their enemies and save the game and the grass."
Through the night the fire burned brightly, while the Comanches sat in a large circle talking together. Star, waking many times, lifted his head that he might watch the warriors who faced the Medicine Man and Quannah. Once the pony half rose to his feet, but Running Deer kicked at him as she lay beside him.
"Lie down and be quiet," she whispered angrily. "It is not dawn yet. You will waken the other ponies and they are weary. What is the matter with you to-night?"
"I want to go back to Songbird, Mother," he answered. "If the white men find the camp they may take her away as they took Quannah's mother and sister, and she may never come back again!"
"Quannah would follow them and get her back. He loves her more than anything else," Running Deer said.
"But all the Comanche ponies are here with us," Star went on anxiously. "If I go back to her, she could ride swiftly from the white men, if they try to capture her."
"Stop talking so foolishly," snorted Running Deer. "Quannah is wiser than you are. He will guard her from harm. Go to sleep at once, for we have many miles to travel yet."
Chapter V
While Star was travelling with the other Comanche ponies, he thought many times of Songbird and wondered what she was doing without him to share her days. If he had known the loneliness of his little playmate, he would have raced back to her, even though his mother had told him that his duty was now beside her so that Quannah might ride him.