THREE SIOUX SCOUTS

BY

ELMER RUSSELL GREGOR

AUTHOR OF "THE WAR TRAIL,"
"SPOTTED DEER," "THE WHITE WOLF,"
"RUNNING FOX," "WHITE OTTER," ETC.

D. APPLETON AND COMPANY
NEW YORK :: 1924 :: LONDON

COPYRIGHT, 1922, BY
D. APPLETON AND COMPANY

PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

CONTENTS

CHAPTER PAGE

I. Watching for Buffaloes 1

II. Mysterious Signals 11

III. Old Enemies 23

IV. Trailing a War Party 39

V. Off to Warn the Cheyennes 53

VI. A Perilous Mission 64

VII. Red Dog's Stratagem 74

VIII. The Attack on the Camp 88

IX. Pawnees 100

X. A Desperate Chase 113

XI. A Night of Surprises 124

XII. Friends 137

XIII. The Abandoned Camp 149

XIV. In Pursuit of the Kiowas 162

XV. Daring Scouts 176

XVI. A Thrilling Rescue 187

XVII. Disaster 205

XVIII. Reënforcements 218

XIX. The Pawnees at Bay 230

XX. A Hard Won Victory 242

THREE SIOUX SCOUTS

CHAPTER I

WATCHING FOR BUFFALOES

White Otter, the famous young war chief of the Ogalala Sioux, and his friends Sun Bird and Little Raven, of the Minneconjoux tribe, were searching the plains for buffaloes. It was early spring, the time of The-new-grass-moon, and the Sioux were expecting the great buffalo herds on their migration northward from the winter feeding grounds.

"Pretty soon Ta-tan-ka will come—then we will have some good days and plenty of meat," White Otter told his friends. "Yellow Horse is singing the Medicine Songs to bring the buffaloes. They will come."

"My father does that," said Sun Bird. "I have seen him do it many times."

"Your father is a great Medicine Person, like Yellow Horse," declared White Otter.

Although the villages of the Ogalalas and the Minneconjoux were many days' travel apart, the young warriors visited one another with considerable frequency. The year previous White Otter had accompanied the Minneconjoux on a great war expedition against the Blackfeet. Now Sun Bird and his brother, Little Raven, had come to the Ogalala village to participate in the spring buffalo hunt.

The three young scouts made an impressive appearance as they cantered across the plain on their speedy little hunting ponies. White Otter was tall and lithe. Sun Bird was considerably shorter, and heavier in physique. Little Raven was younger and less matured in face and stature. All showed the characteristics of the Dacotah warrior. They were fearless, cautious and crafty. Each had proved his courage and skill in a number of thrilling exploits, and despite their youthfulness all three were famous warriors. They wore the simple dress of the hunter, which consisted of moccasins, and buckskin leggins reaching to the thighs. They were naked above the waist. Their hair was worn in two braids wrapped with fur. White Otter and Sun Bird, as chiefs of their respective tribes, were entitled to wear the coveted war bonnet of eagle plumes. Both had left it off to be as inconspicuous as possible in their search for game. White Otter, however, wore a single eagle feather in his scalp lock. They were armed with bows and arrows and flint hunting knives. White Otter and Sun Bird carried fire sticks. Each was provided with a robe of elkskin which was folded beneath him, across the back of his pony.

For two days they had searched the plains to the southward of the Ogalala camp. They had