Young Sioux Warrior

by Francis Lynde Kroll

“No,” Great Bear reassured him. “But there will be one more and perhaps two.”

To Little Bear it seemed certain the night would be gone while he and Grandfather waited. At last he saw a shadowy movement that told him a third warrior was making a circuit of the herd.

“There may be another one,” Great Bear warned, “but we can wait no longer. Keep a sharp watch. We are starting.”

For some time they crawled forward side by side. When they reached a point about halfway to the horses, they separated as Great Bear had planned. Little Bear swerved to the left and Great Bear to the right. Little Bear inched forward until he was near enough to the horses so that the sounds they made would hide any little noise he made as he crept forward. He got to his hands and knees and moved more rapidly. Suddenly he flattened out and lay motionless. A few steps ahead, between him and the horses, a Pawnee warrior was circling the herd. Little Bear dared not cry out a warning to Grandfather.

Little Bear’s heart was thumping so loudly he was sure the Pawnee must come to investigate the sound. Even when the warrior moved on, Little Bear’s heart continued to race. The Pawnee might still discover Great Bear. The minutes dragged by with no unusual sounds until finally Little Bear was sure the warrior hadn’t seen Grandfather either.

Little Bear started forward again. When he was near enough to the horses so that they would hide him from the camp, he slowly got to his feet. The nearest horse snorted loudly and moved back awkwardly. Little Bear stood motionless until the horse again started to graze. Carefully Little Bear moved to the side of the horse. It tossed its head restlessly and then stood quietly.

Now Little Bear moved in front of the horse and knelt down. Quickly he unknotted the hobble ropes. He got to his feet and moved to the next horse. It reared back excitedly. Little Bear dared not take time to quiet an excited horse, and so he left it and stepped up beside another one. This horse scarcely raised its head as Little Bear stroked its side. He knelt and unhobbled it.

When Little Bear got to his feet again, he stood motionless, trying to see into the darkness. Any warrior making a circuit of the herd would be sure to spot horses moving without hobbles. He would investigate immediately. At last, satisfied there was no warrior near, Little Bear put his hand on the horse’s mane and guided it towards the other horse he had unhobbled. He kept the horse walking slowly so that its movements would not easily be seen by a watcher. At last he had the two unhobbled horses together.

Little Bear had thought that when he got the two horses together, the most dangerous part of the raid would be over. He saw now he had been wrong. The only way he could get his horses to the edge of the herd was to keep them moving side by side. He had to walk between them with a hand in the mane of each. Instead of staying close to other horses so that their movements would hide the movements of his horses, Little Bear had to find places where the horses were widely separated. At the edge of the herd, he stopped his horses and wiped the sweat from his brow.

He left the horses standing and scouted a short distance in the direction from which each of the Pawnees had come to circle the herd. He saw something move ahead of him. Little Bear waited until he was sure it was a Pawnee warrior. Then he carefully slipped back and stood between his two horses. He put a hand in the mane of each and held them quiet. The Pawnee warrior came close. One of the horses took a step forward, and Little Bear’s heart quit beating. But the Pawnee didn’t notice the horse wasn’t hobbled. He went on around the herd.