Then he silently awoke the chief and said, "Let us go." Gray Eagle and Snowdrop were soon ready for a start.
"Here, Jehiel, you take the chief and the girl and go on down the creek; I will join you in a few minutes."
"Where are you going?" asked Jehiel.
"I am going to tell the strangers to be on their guard," and the brave man, unmindful of his own peril, mounted his horse and started for the camp of the strangers; while Jehiel, and the chief and his daughter, went down the stream.
Kelly had got about half-way to the other camp when a dark figure sprung from the bushes in front of him, and struck at the head of the scout.
He missed his mark, but not so Kelly, who reached out and dealt the Indian a blow between the eyes which brought him to the ground.
Spurring over the prostrate body he drove into the camp of the strangers, shouting as he went:
"Up, men, for your lives! The Sioux are here!"
A hundred dusky forms sprung up as if by magic, and the air was filled with murderous yells. Drawing his revolver he shot right and left, an Indian falling with every shot.
The first thought of the brave scout was to join his party as soon as possible, but his afterthought was worthy of him. He knew that to insure the safety of Jehiel, Gray Eagle, and Snowdrop, he must go in an opposite direction, and thus lead the Sioux in pursuit of himself rather than his friends.