At first there was nothing stirring near him, but after a while two deer came down to the other bank of the river. Bent Arrow could tell from the actions of the deer that no Sioux were near. He thought of crossing the river and scouting farther but decided against it. He waited until the deer left the river before he left this hiding place to return to camp. When he arrived, Flying Arrow was waiting.
“Did you find a meaning in my dream?” Bent Arrow asked anxiously.
“Your dream warns of danger from the Sioux,” Flying Arrow answered. “Yet it may promise that we can find your eagle feather and escape.”
“Then we are to scout the Sioux camp,” Bent Arrow exclaimed.
“We are,” Flying Arrow agreed. “There is nothing in your dream to show that it would cause us greater danger.”
Flying Arrow insisted that they wait until the sun was sliding down the western sky before they started. The sun had melted the snow so rapidly that there were many bare spots. However the ground was soft, and the horses left a plain trail.
They crossed the river at the same place they did on their other raid. Soon after they had crossed, they left the horses and went ahead on foot. As Flying Arrow led the way, he kept to the bare ground as much as possible. They came to a small stream which flowed into the river. They walked along its bank in a direction which took them farther from the Sioux camp. When they had gone many paces, Flying Arrow stepped into the stream and turned back in the direction from which they had come. Bent Arrow followed him.
The two Crows walked in the cold water until the stream made a sharp bend. Here they stepped onto the bank, taking care to hide their tracks. They circled to the south of the Sioux camp as they had done the other time. The sun had sunk in the west, but there was still some light when the two Crows crept to the top of the hill and looked down at the camp.
Bent Arrow gave a little sigh of disappointment as he saw that the horses had been put into a pole corral. He had been hoping that he and his uncle might have a chance to take one or two of the Sioux horses. As he looked more closely at the camp, he noticed bundles hanging in the trees. It was too far for him to be able to see clearly, but he guessed the bundles must be meat.
“They must be planning to camp here for a while,” Bent Arrow whispered to his uncle. “They have their meat hanging on tree limbs.”