“Oh, yes,” answered Joe, “one of the greatest of warriors.”
They camped that night by Duck Lake, and there Hugh told Jack something about the fierce wild life of Calf Shirt and of the way in which he was finally killed by the white men.
From Duck Lake they kept on to the Agency, which was reached without incident four days later.
The morning after their arrival while Jack was dressing preparatory to starting off to the railroad, Joe burst into the room, calling to him to hurry up and get out, for many horses had been stolen during the night.
The flat in front of the Agency was the scene of great excitement and confusion. Old men were haranguing in loud tones and women were singing strong-heart songs to encourage their relatives about to start off in pursuit of the enemy. Men were galloping to and fro, trying to borrow swift horses or arms, with which to make the chase. Every now and then a man would come in from the east, reporting success or failure in the search for the trail of the robbers.
At last one man came who had followed the trail so far that the direction which the thieves would take was pretty well known, and presently a large body of horsemen, armed with rifles, bows and arrows, and lances, started off down the creek, riding with a certain air of dignity until they had gone some distance from the stockade, and then breaking into a faster run.
“Well, Joe,” asked Hugh, “are our horses all right?”
“Yes,” replied the Indian boy, “they’re all right, and it’s mighty lucky, too. I would have turned them out last night if there had been any feed close by, but as there wasn’t any, I got Joe Bruce to give me some hay and locked them up in his stable. Last night somebody tried to pry off the chain, but the staples are clinched and they couldn’t move them.”
“Well,” said Hugh, “that’s mighty good. Now you go and hitch up, and we’ll say good-by to the Major and Bruce here, and then we’ll roll.”
A few days later Jack and Hugh shook hands in the railroad station at Helena and parted, the one going west to reach the ranch, while the other started for his far-away home in New York.