"I was confused, but not afraid," the Old White Horse explained. "I have been so many years a troop horse that I am not a coward in a fight. You believe that, don't you?" He looked anxiously at the Big Gray Horse.
"Yes," it answered. "Neither a man nor a horse that has grown old in the service turns coward when he grows old. Sometimes we horses run just because other horses are running; sometimes we misunderstand our orders and run wild. That was how many horses broke loose when the Indian boys hit us over the heads and backs with those bits of buffalo hide. When some picket-ropes broke, the rest of us thought we would be left behind, so we all struggled until we were free. Then I ran, guided by the sound of other hoofs in the darkness, and not waiting to know whether those around me were troop horses or Comanche ponies. I thought I was doing what was right and best."
"And then what happened?" Star questioned eagerly.
"The soldiers fired their guns, and many tried to catch the running horses which were dragging long ropes. The Comanches were all around in the darkness. Then all I really knew after that was that a lot of us were among the Comanche ponies and the warriors were urging us on. It was dawn when we halted, and the soldiers were nowhere to be seen."
"Nearly all of the White Troop horses are with us," the Old White Horse spoke.
Star lifted his head and glanced over the peacefully grazing herd, where a large number of white animals were mixed among the Comanche ponies. They were easily picked out, not only because of their colour, but also because they were much larger than the Indian ponies.
"Your fighting men cannot follow us," bragged Star, "for they have no ponies now."
"You are wrong," replied the Big Gray Horse. "There are hundreds more horses, hundreds more soldiers who will follow the Comanches. The white men are like the blades of grass, the stars in the sky, or the leaves of the trees in a great forest. No one can count them. Others will join our masters and keep on the trail until the Indians are all conquered. I know what I say, for I have listened to my General and all his officers talking while they rode together."
"Why do they wish to conquer us?" demanded Star angrily. "The land, the grass, the rivers belong to us! Why do the white men come out of far places to take these things away from us?"
"I am only a horse," the other replied. "How can I tell? I only know that my General holds the rein that guides me, and I love and obey him. Sometimes while he rides slowly, he and the other officers talk together. Then we, their horses, listen. So we learn much, but there are many things none of us understand."