Iola sat still a few moments longer, and then she rose. “I will go down to the spring,” she said, “and fetch the water for the cooking.”
When the buffalo heard her say this he was filled with joy. He took it as a sign that she was now ready to live with him in his wigwam and be his wife. Believing this, he was quite willing to allow her to go down to the spring by herself.
Iola stepped outside, and as soon as her father saw her alone there he rose up from among the bushes. His magic moccasins were once more upon his feet. He motioned her to follow. “Quick!” he whispered. As soon as they were clear of the bushes Agodaguada lifted his daughter in his arms and leaped away with her through the forest.
In the lodge the buffalo waited for Iola a long time. Sometimes he listened for her footsteps, and sometimes he played upon his flute. At last he began to grow suspicious and went out to look for her. Everywhere he looked and hunted, and at last he came to where her father had hidden in the bushes, and there he saw the marks Agodaguada had made as he had leaped away with Iola in his arms.
Then the buffalo knew he had been tricked. With a bellow of rage he called his herd together and started after Iola and her father.
Agodaguada had already gone some distance, but his daughter weighed him down, and the moccasins could not move as swiftly as when they had only himself to carry. He had only just reached the edge of the forest when he heard the buffaloes behind him. They had caught sight of him. The king gave a bellow of triumph. But now Agodaguada was out of the forest and leaping swiftly over an open plain. The whole herd were thundering after him at full speed, but just as the leader reached him Agodaguada leaped aside. Before the buffaloes could stop themselves they had charged on past him.
They turned and again rushed at him. But suddenly a flight of arrows darkened the air. Several buffaloes fell dead upon the plain, and the king was wounded. These arrows were shot by a band of hunters who had come to this plain in search of game, and had hidden themselves in a thicket. From there they had seen Agodaguada race with the buffaloes.
Though the king was wounded, he would still have pursued Agodaguada, but his followers had turned tail and were fleeing back into the forest. He stood pawing the earth and frothing until another arrow struck him, and then, bellowing with rage, he turned and followed his herd.
He did not stop at the camp, however. He was so full of anger and chagrin that he went on and on until he reached the wide plains of the West, where he had never been seen or heard of before.
But Agodaguada joined the band of hunters who had saved him, and Iola was married to their young chief and lived happily with him in his lodge for ever after.