After the death of Tortoise the chickens throve admirably, and no more were ever missed by reason of the cats having caught them.
CHAPTER XVI
THE PAWNEES RETURN—ANTELOPE HUNT WITH THE INDIANS—JOE MISSES—WHITE WOLF—TALK OF A WILD HORSE HUNT—THE SAND-HILL CRANES—THEIR WEIRD COTILLION
The Pawnees camped on the Oxhide that autumn earlier than usual, as one of the boys of the tribe had said they would.
The band arrived the first week in September, and Joe was again in his element. He spent every spare moment in the camp, but, much to his regret, learned that his old friend Yellow Calf was dead; he had died about a month before of sheer wearing out. He was nearer ninety than eighty, which he had given as his age to Joe. One of the younger of the principal men had been made chief in his place. He had been with the band every season when they camped on the creek, and also was a firm friend to Joe, so the boy had lost nothing except the presence of the old fellow who thought so much of him.
One morning about the middle of April while the Indians were still on the Oxhide, and Joe as usual was in the camp, a warrior came in and reported a large herd of antelope on the Smoky Hill bottom; he said there were at least eight hundred of them. He proposed to Joe that they should go after them, and the boy agreed without any hesitation.
The chief told them they had better take about half a dozen of the men with them; for if the antelope were out on the open prairie, they could not get near enough to them without a great deal of trouble. If they had some one to drive the herd toward them while they hid themselves in the tall grass, they could entice a number within range by using the usual strategy.