A brief search convinced them that no horses had passed that point. They saw the marks of deer, and buffaloes, as well as some very large imprints made by cloven hoofs, that startled the boys, for they did not know what sort of strange animal had made them; but it was sure that horses had not been present.
“That settles it then,” said Roger, with a sigh of relief, for he would much rather just sit there and wait for the expedition to come along, than be compelled to follow for miles after it.
“We will make camp here to-night if they fail to show up,” asserted Dick, which piece of information pleased Roger, his pleasure showing in the broad smile of contentment that broke over his face.
With plenty of good venison to last them through many days, what need had they to worry? They knew the exploring party bound for the other side of the mountains was sure to come along, sooner or later; when they could once more join their good friends, and take their accustomed places as though nothing unusual had happened.
Dick selected a certain spot on which to settle and wait for the exploring party. In doing this he had in mind the fact that it afforded them a clear view down the river. A bend lay just a quarter of a mile below their position, around which they could expect the boats to appear, sooner or later.
Lying at their ease the boys talked of many things as they awaited the coming of the expedition. Their recent experience of course came in for a good share of attention, for it still thrilled them to compare notes of the night attack, when those hideous whoops were ringing in their ears, together with the heavy percussion of blows as the fierce Shoshones invaded the camp of the Dacotahs and struggled hand-to-hand for the supremacy.
The sun was sinking lower and lower, so that it really began to look as though, after all, the boys would have to make camp where they were. Apparently the expedition had spent some little time looking for the lost ones, and Dick had struck the river further up than they had as yet penetrated.
Suddenly Roger discovered a moving object down the river. Then, around the bend, a boat came in sight, in which they could see white men, some of them soldiers.
At the same time voices from the shore reached their ears, and they caught fugitive glimpses of moving figures advancing along a buffalo trail close to the edge of the bank. These latter they realized must be the party mounted on the horses, and who always kept near the boats for mutual protection and company.
“That settles it then, Dick. We will not have to camp by ourselves to-night; and, after all, I’m glad of it. Not that I don’t enjoy being off with you alone, but up here, so far away from the settlements, it makes me feel better to know I am in company with some dozens of other whites.”