Part 20 (2/2)
”I not know It is so My er' He say Black Fox leave Reservation So, watch An' I tell you You er for my man too, and for Wanaha It is all”
Seth nodded
”All right I understand You're a good squaw, Wanaha”
He passed on, for Wanaha waited for no questions She had done what she thought best Had not Nevil seen the gravity of the one further than her instructions She had warned Seth, whom Nevil had said must not be told For once in her life Wanaha had exercised her own judgment in defiance of her husband's
The squaw passed down the deep prairie furrohile Seth held to the trail And the hts went back to the interview he had had with Rosebud thatSo it was Wanaha who had caused her to come to him
CHAPTER XV
THE MOVEMENTS OF LITTLE BLACK FOX
The woodlands on the northern side of the great Reservations of Dakota a the Pine Ridge Reservation, a th of the Indian territory without the slightest chance of discovery, even by the Indians theood woodsman And this is what Seth acco care or unusual caution But then he was consust the sons of the soil, and, even then, rarely outside the feho have been associated with Indians all their lives
It was soon after sunrise on Monday hborhood of the principal Indian camp of the Rosebuds Yet none had seen hirown bluff
Directly in front of him, but with at least four hundred yards of uninterrupted view intervening, was the house of Little Black Fox
Seth was not usually a hard rider--he was far too good a horseet the last ounce out of his horse He had left the farht had roused the post from his bed Then, at the hotel of Louis Roiheiht on Mondaybut mazy woodland, had reached the locality of Little Black Fox's abode Thus he had covered so like one hundred and seventy ht hours Nor had he finished his work yet
Now he lay on the ground in the shadow of the close, heavy-foliaged brush, watching with alert, untiring eyes Sorown into the nature of this uncultured product of the prairie world He had s his horse, now left in the well-trained charge of the dog, General For hi stirred where he lay If he shi+fted his position it must have been done in the manner of the Indians themselves, for no sound resulted He knew that a hundred pairs of eyes would infallibly detect his presence at the least clumsy disturbance of the bush For the Indian is like the bear in his native woods He may be intent in another direction, but the disturbance of the leaves, however slight, in an opposite direction, will at once attract his attention
The squaere astir at daylight Now, as the sun rose, it beca forward in the chief's quarters There was a gathering of ponies in a corral hard by Also the long ”trailers,” already packed with tepee-poles and great bundles of skins and blankets, were leaning against the walls of the corral
To Seth's practised eyes these things denoted an early departure; and, by the number of ponies and the extent of the equipe party But time went on, and no further move was made Only all those who came and went seemed busy; not on account of what they did, but froreater part of the day Seth kept his sleepless watch Only once did he abandon his post, and then merely to return to his horse to secure food froo thither it was to be seen that he was fully armed, which had not been the case when he left the farhtforward as he was himself, and none the less shrewd The position was this The Indians were in a state of ferment, to which, of course, the chief was party Second, the chief was going off on a hunting trip, and apparently abandoning his people at a critical tier froood-will could be relied on Fourth, the warning had come to them, indirectly, from the one ood-will toward Rosebud; but he also saw, or thought he saw, the reason of that warning It was that thisThese were Seth's argu on Little Black Fox's trail until he was assured that the danger to Rosebud no longer existed It was in the nature of the ht no outside aid, except that of his faithful General
The story the watcher read as he observed the Indians'one The climax of it did not come until late in the afternoon, and the conclusion not until an hour later
The cli up fro of the lips lent a curious expression to the sht to his face The ait of an Indian There was nothing to give any other impression to the casual observer But Seth was very intent, and he saw the color of the ht and his serish in its appearance
However, he remained quite still, and saw the man pass into the chief's house He did not reappear for a full half-hour When at last he came out he departed at once the way he had come Half an hour later the chief's ponies, a nue, set out accompanied by half a dozen mounted bucks Another half-hour and Little Black Fox appeared and vaulted to the back of his waiting pony A dozen warriors joined hi from different directions, and the chief rode off at their head
Then it was that Seth rose fro of theseThey werefor the river ford, and he instantly ran back to his horse and mounted Just for a second he hesitated Then he set off for the wagon bridge as fast as he could urge his horse
It was late the same afternoon that Charlie Rankin rode up to the River Farreeted Rube, as hard at work upon the stockade He was a large, cheery Britisher, with a florid face and ready laugh He dreith a jerk, sprang to the ground, and began talking with the perfect freedo friendshi+p
”I've passed the word, Rube,” he said, without any preaht I'd run over and consult you about the woht of sending the missis into Beacon”
Rube paused in his work and surveyed the horizon, while, in his sloay, he wiped the perspiration from his weather-furrowed face