He was under no illusions as to the inveterate character of the hatred which the Sioux bore him. He knew that Black Panther would, if necessary, be ready to give his own life in order to take that of the man who had beaten him in wrestling and been the unwitting cause of his disgrace before Running Water’s band.
Who should know better than William F. Cody that an Indian is not wont either to forget or forgive?
After the trail of the Sioux had been followed for a few miles, Buffalo Bill found that the horses of the soldiers in Captain Meinhold’s troop could not keep up with those of the scouts under his own immediate command. The men were not such good riders and the animals were not so good.
He, therefore, suggested that he and his men should ride on ahead and the troopers should follow as quickly as they could.
Meinhold saw the wisdom of this arrangement, for it was imperative that the Indians should be caught up with as speedily as was possible. It was impossible to tell what scheme they had in mind. They might intend to raid one of the settlements within easy reach of such hard riders as they were.
All that day the trail was followed over the prairie, and the scouts kept on far into the night, for it was bright moonlight, and the broad track left by the horses of the Sioux could be followed without difficulty by such experts in the business of Indian fighting as they were.
A few hours’ rest—more for the sake of the horses than of the tough frontiersmen—was at last ordered by Buffalo Bill, and soon after dawn the chase was resumed.
The redskins outnumbered them by more than three to one, as the trail plainly showed; but neither Buffalo Bill nor any of his men cared anything for that. They were used to taking such odds—and far worse ones, too.
Toward the close of the afternoon they sighted the Sioux, who had offsaddled for a rest.
The vedettes of the Indians saw them at the same moment, and hastened in to carry the news to Black Panther.