Little Bear waited for a long time after the warrior had passed. He would have liked to jump on the back of one of the horses and go racing away from the Pawnee camp. Still he obeyed Grandfather’s orders and waited silently. At last, sure the Pawnee warrior had returned to his blankets, Little Bear started his horses forward. Often he turned to look behind him. He saw two horses come out of the herd and start towards him. For a panic stricken moment he was sure it was a Pawnee warrior using the horses as a screen. He almost laughed aloud with relief when he realized it was Great Bear with the two horses he had captured.
Little Bear swung his horses to the right so that the four of them would be farther apart and not so noticeable. He no longer allowed his horses to stop and graze, but kept them moving. Slowly he came towards the top of the hill. Every moment he expected to hear an outcry from the camp below. He reached the top of the hill, and still there was no sound from the Pawnee camp. It seemed to take hours to cross the hill and get far enough down the other side to be out of sight of the camp, but at last it was done. The first part of their raid had been successful.
“We made it,” Little Bear gloated as Grandfather joined him beside their own horses.
“We aren’t away yet,” Great Bear reminded him. “The Pawnees will try to catch us.”
“How soon do you think they will miss the horses?” Little Bear asked.
“Not until morning,” Great Bear guessed. “We’d better start.”
“We will be a long way by morning,” Little Bear vowed.
“Not as far as I would like to be,” Great Bear warned. “We have to circle their camp and then go north. If they guess that is what we are doing, the Pawnees will take a short cut. They may be able to catch us.”
Grandfather and Little Bear each mounted his own horse and led the ones which he had captured. Once the captured horses were well away from the Pawnee camp, it would be easier to drive them, but now there was too much danger the horses would make a break for camp. It was so dark Little Bear wondered how Grandfather could find the way. Although they went slowly, they went steadily. They had gone a great distance before Great Bear turned north.
Little Bear judged they must be about straight west of the Pawnee camp when the first faint light showed in the east. Grandfather had been right. They were still too close to the Pawnee camp. If the Pawnees guessed the route he and Grandfather were taking, there was still grave danger. As it became light enough to see, Great Bear urged his horse to an easy lope.