Young Sioux Warrior

by Francis Lynde Kroll

It was an almost perfect shot. The arrow scraped across the back of one of the Pawnee horses, just enough to hurt and frighten it. The horse gave a squeal of terror and lunged forward. Instantly the whole herd of horses stampeded.

The Pawnees had seen the arrow almost the moment it left Little Bear’s bow. Two of them whirled towards him, drawing their bow strings back as they turned. One of them sent an arrow flying towards Little Bear, but before the other one could shoot, an arrow from the top of the hill knocked him to the ground.

For a moment the Pawnees were in complete confusion. Little Bear sent an arrow towards them and then slipped downstream in the tall grass. He moved so carefully that the Pawnees could not tell he had left his hiding place. Arrows struck where he had been hiding moments before. He lay quiet, hoping they would think that they had hit him.

He raised his head enough to get a look at the war party. Their leader had taken charge. He had called the mounted men from the entrance to Buffalo Trap Canyon and sent them after the horses. Two warriors were starting up the hill towards Great Bear and two more were coming towards Little Bear. The rest of the party were running to try to help recapture their horses.

Little Bear hesitated only a moment. He knew he would have no chance against two Pawnee warriors. If the Sioux warriors would come charging out of the canyon while the Pawnees were scattered, all of them could escape. But evidently the Pawnees had kept the hunters so far back in the canyon that they couldn’t see what was going on outside. Little Bear knew there was only one chance for him to escape. He leaped to his feet giving the Sioux war cry.

The two Pawnees, taken by surprise, hesitated. Little Bear turned and started running up the steep hill. He heard Great Bear echo the war cry. Then he gave all of his attention to escaping his pursuers. He ran in a zig-zag course to make it harder for them to hit him. He saw Great Bear stand and saw his arrow come whizzing by. There was a cry behind him. Great Bear had stopped one of the pursuers.

Little Bear risked a backward glance. Great Bear’s arrow had knocked down one of the Pawnees. The other warrior was bending over the one on the ground. The two warriors who had been going towards Great Bear had stopped. Both of them were sighting arrows towards Great Bear. Little Bear gave a warning cry, but Great Bear was too slow. Little Bear saw the Pawnee’s arrow strike and Great Bear crumple to the ground. Little Bear stopped and turned towards the Pawnees. But their leader had seen the danger of the Sioux hunters charging from the canyon. He was roaring orders at the Pawnee warriors. The two who had started towards Great Bear turned back. They went over and helped carry the warrior Great Bear had hit.

The Pawnees, who were afoot, formed a compact squad and moved away from the canyon mouth. At first they moved slowly, but when Little Bear again raised the Sioux war cry, they broke into a run. Little Bear didn’t wait to see if the hunters came out of the canyon to pursue the Pawnees. He turned and dashed up the hill to Great Bear.

As Little Bear ran up to him, Great Bear was just struggling to a sitting position. The Pawnee arrow had grazed the side of his head. It had made a deep cut in the skin, which was bleeding badly. Little Bear examined the cut quickly.

“I’m all right,” Great Bear assured him. “It just knocked me down.”