Little Eagle took the path he had made when he had been carrying water to Angry Wolf. He had planned to turn toward the place where the Crow chiefs had camped. Before he reached the trail, he changed his mind. It might be easier to fool the Pawnees if they were led to believe their enemies were Crows.
Although his horse was eager to run, Little Eagle held it to a walk. He continually looked back over his shoulder to see how Angry Wolf was getting along. He was pleased to see that Angry Wolf was sitting erectly on his horse. He didn’t appear to be any more tired than he would have been in camp. At a place where the trail went over level ground, Angry Wolf brought his horse alongside that of Little Eagle.
“Did the Pawnees have many buffaloes?” Angry Wolf asked.
“Enough to feed a big camp many days,” Little Eagle replied. “The sun will be far down by the time they have all of them skinned and butchered.”
“That is good,” Angry Wolf said. “We’ll have a long start before they notice their loss. However, as soon as the Pawnees learn they have lost horses, they’ll send two or three trackers on our trail.”
Little Eagle shifted uneasily on his horse. There were many good trackers among the Sioux, but none so good as the Pawnees. Many times he had heard warriors tell about Pawnees following trails that it had seemed impossible for anyone to find.
As the sun began to slip down the western sky, Little Eagle lost some of his uneasiness. Angry Wolf was still riding erectly. Perhaps, if they had to increase their speed, Angry Wolf could stand the pace. At the top of each hill, both Angry Wolf and Little Eagle looked back down the trail. Each time they were relieved that there was no sign of pursuit. Before the sun went down, they stopped at the top of a high hill. Little Eagle jumped from his horse and climbed a tall tree. From there he could see a long way back. There was no sign of Pawnees.
The Crow trail turned into land that was much rougher. There were chains of steep hills with only narrow valleys between them. Every valley had a stream flowing through it. At each stream, Little Eagle considered riding up the stream where they would leave no tracks. Each time he decided that the farther he and Angry Wolf rode along the Crow trail, the more likely the Pawnees would be to turn back.
There was still daylight left when Little Eagle noticed that Angry Wolf was slumped over his horse’s neck. Evidently Angry Wolf had suddenly become so tired that he could scarcely stay on his horse. Once Little Eagle saw him grasp his horse’s mane to save himself from falling.
“We’ll have to make camp,” Little Eagle called to his friend.