Preparation seemed to have been made for the two white men, and they were led direct to a tepee, where they proceeded to make themselves at home.
Little Cayuse was left bound in the care of a pair of braves, whose only notice of the young Piute was to sneer:
“Pai-ute! Ugh!”
Little Cayuse disdained to make reply. His captors were the hated Sioux. He could die without a murmur, if they tortured him, but he would not talk to them.
In a cleared space where the trees and stumps had been grubbed away, some sort of a dance was being held. Two circles had been formed around a mystery pole. The cowskin drums boomed, and men of deeds composed the inner circle in their war finery and with buffalo-horn dancing clubs.
These warriors shook their clubs at the outer circle and repeated their deeds of daring. When this was done the drums boomed again and the warriors of the inner circle marched up to the mystery pole and then suddenly sprang back and danced about it, part going one way and part the other.
The drums boomed once more and ceased and the dancing warriors began to chant. After a time these men took seats and the speechmaking began. At the end of each exploit related the drums were pounded furiously.
It was a sample day of the way these red men lived in luxury—according to the red man’s notion of luxury—on the loot wrung from the daring white men who were every day pushing the borders of civilization farther toward the setting sun, and opening a vast domain of wealth and happiness then infested by Indians and white pirates of the plains.
The sport becoming boisterous, the two white men came forth to witness the ceremonies. They had shed much of their outer garments, including the hair and beard which had been used for disguise, and Little Cayuse instantly recognized his old friends of the Gallatin Valley—Price, the Indian agent, and Bloody Ike, the ex-miner and blasting expert.
Cayuse now understood how he came to be known to them and why he was wanted by them. The Piute fully realized the seriousness of his situation and resolved to escape, even if by taking most desperate risks.