“That is true.” Little Eagle had to agree. “However, if Clawing Bear were here, he would think of a plan to defeat them.”
“Clawing Bear is a great medicine man,” Angry Wolf acknowledged.
Little Eagle gave a start. It was almost as though Clawing Bear had whispered in his ear. Sioux medicine was powerful too. There was a way that might fool the Crows.
“How long will it take the Crows to reach here?” Little Eagle asked.
“They were starting to cook their meal when I saw them,” Angry Wolf replied. “They will stop to study the place where we were attacked. We may have until the sun is straight overhead.”
“We must build many fires to make it look as though this is a big Sioux camp,” Little Eagle explained. “The Crows will turn back if they think many Sioux are camped here.”
“They’ll see this is no camp when they cross those hills,” Angry Wolf objected, pointing back to the hills their trail had crossed.
“They’ll see the smoke of the fires before they reach the hills,” Little Eagle answered. “They won’t cross the hills.”
“The plan might work,” Angry Wolf agreed doubtfully.
They went to work at once. Fires were laid as they would be in a Sioux camp. As quickly as a pile of wood was ready, one of the boys brought coals and started it. In a short time they had a score of fires lifting spirals of smoke into the crisp morning air. When the Crows counted those spirals of smoke, they surely would turn back. They wouldn’t risk a battle with a large Sioux war party.