"But they are beyond arrow flight," answered the younger boy.

"They are inquisitive animals," said Hawk Eye. "I will try to bring them nearer. Let us lie down and see if I cannot attract their attention."

Both boys dropped to the ground. Hawk Eye fastened a moccasin to one end of his bow and slowly waved it to and fro. In a few minutes an antelope came slowly toward them. Pausing now and again, it gradually came within range. In the meantime Raven Wing had set the head of an arrow against the string. At length he let it fly. The stricken animal gave a leap into the air and fell to the ground. Its frightened comrades galloped away and were out of range before Raven Wing could send out another arrow.

[Ill.u.s.tration: HAWK EYE FASTENED A MOCCASIN TO ONE END OF HIS BOW AND SLOWLY WAVED IT TO AND FRO.]

The sun was now near its setting, so the boys decided to make camp close to a great boulder. From a clump of low bushes Raven Wing gathered enough dry twigs and leaves to make a small fire, and before long strips of antelope meat were roasting over the flames. The bushes grew around a tiny spring, at which they drank and satisfied their thirst before they sat down to eat.

When the meal was ended, Hawk Eye said: "Let us cut up the choice parts of the antelope into thin strips. These can be hung from a strip of hide and allowed to dry in the sun as we journey on."

For some little time before darkness came down the boys were busy preparing the meat for drying.

"We will get up with the sun," said Hawk Eye, as he stretched himself on the ground.

At the first pale tint of dawn the boys awoke. After drinking and bathing at the spring they ate heartily of the portion of well cooked meat that remained from their evening meal. Taking another long drink at the spring, they hung their bows from their shoulders and lifted the leather thong with the strips of meat from the bush tops.

"The wind and the sun will soon dry the meat," remarked Hawk Eye, taking hold of one end. Raven Wing grasped the other and they set off over the short, light green, hair-like gra.s.s of the upland. Dew glittered on stem and flower as the sun rose higher. Now and again the peep of the prairie chick or the call of the plover came to their ears. As they neared a rocky ridge a badger slipped into his den.

At length Raven Wing remarked, "Very soon we should come across a trail to the river."

"The trail of the paleface trader Renville?" inquired Hawk Eye.

"Yes; 'tis wide and well worn by the wheels of his carts and the hoofs of his oxen," answered Raven Wing.

As the sun reached the middle of the sky, Hawk Eye stopped. Dropping his end of the leather thong, he said;

"We have not yet found the trail. Let us spread apart. I will follow a line running between the land of Snows and the Rising Sun. You go forward slantingly toward the Ever Summer Land. But neither of us may go far without again setting face toward the Rising Sun. By so doing, one of us may come upon the trail as we journey toward the upward bend of the river."

"We must keep within the sound of each other's voice," cautioned Raven Wing.

"Yes," agreed Hawk Eye. "I will shoulder the meat. It is by now quite dry." Making a bundle of the strips, he set off at a slant towards the north. Raven Wing veered towards the south.

Before long he halted at a faint, distant call from Hawk Eye.

"He has come across the trail," said Raven Wing to himself. Turning toward the north, he broke into a run. As he came to the ridge of a low swell of ground, he saw Hawk Eye. In a few minutes he stood beside him.

"You have found the trail," he laughed, perceiving the sunken track made by cart wheels.

"Yes, but we must go fast to catch the thief," answered Hawk Eye. "We must gain a point of vantage on the bank ahead of him. Once there, we can lay plans to recover our stolen canoes."

[Ill.u.s.tration: {Deer with antlers.}]

CHAPTER XIII

THE BOYS ARE TAKEN PRISONERS

The sun set and it set again. Raven Wing and Hawk Eye pushed on across the prairie toward the Minnesota River. They had left the trail and were veering toward the north.

"It would not be wise to make the great ford called by the white men Sioux," Hawk Eye had said. "We must come at a fair distance from there down the river to a point where the banks are high and the timber heavy."

"We will continue to journey through the night until the river is in sight," answered Raven Wing.

Hawk Eye grunted in a.s.sent. Once only did they pause for water at a spring in the midst of a clump of cottonwood trees.

As the sun rose they neared the river and soon after they were camping not far from a bluff, eating their breakfast beside a small fire, which sent so thin a column of smoke into the air that it was almost dissipated before it reached the treetops.

When the meal was over, Raven Wing said:

"I will take Ohitika and keep watch over the river while you get some sleep." Armed with his bow and arrows, he strode off toward the brow of the bluff.

Hawk Eye loaded his gun and placed it against a tree, together with powder horn and bullet pouch. Then, throwing himself at full length on the green moss beneath the tree, he fell into a sound sleep.

Scarcely a quarter of an hour had pa.s.sed when he was startled by the report of a gun, which was followed by a war cry from Raven Wing and a series of war whoops. At the same instant, and before he could attempt to rise, his legs and arms were pinioned to the ground by two Indians.

For a minute Hawk Eye was paralyzed. Then the terrible reality of his position, the cry of warning from Raven Wing, and the sight of the thong with which his captors were about to bind him, brought him to his senses. With a display of strength that surprised his captors, he hurled them right and left. As one of them struggled to his feet, he received a blow from Hawk Eye's tomahawk that felled him; the other, fearing for his life, dodged behind a tree.

As Hawk Eye glanced quickly around in search of his gun which no longer rested against the tree, he saw Raven Wing between the tree trunks being hurried away by two other Indians. As the arrow leaps from the bow Hawk Eye sprang forward in pursuit. The Indians saw him coming, but having dropped their guns in the scuffle with Raven Wing, they were unable to fire at Hawk Eye as he approached. At this point the Indian who had hidden behind the tree threw a heavy stick which struck Hawk Eye on the back of the head with such force that he fell, bleeding and insensible, upon the ground.

[Ill.u.s.tration: AS THE ARROW LEAPS FROM THE BOW HAWK EYE SPRANG FORWARD IN PURSUIT.]

When Hawk Eye recovered from the effects of the blow, he found himself lying on the cold earth in total darkness, and firmly bound hand and foot.

In vain he tried to break the leather thongs. He called loudly for Raven Wing, hoping his friend had somehow escaped and would come to his aid.

But only echoes of his own voice answered him. The dreadful thought now flashed across his mind that the enemy had buried him alive in some dark cave. At length the gray dawn shone in upon him and showed that he was in a deep hollow in the bluff overhanging the river.

Again he called to Raven Wing. Scarcely had the echoes of his voice died away, when a man's figure darkened the mouth of the cave.

"Raven Wing!" cried Hawk Eye.

"Slow Dog has heard your call," answered a sneering voice. Bending over the helpless boy the Medicine Man drew a scalping knife from his belt and cut the thong that bound his feet and hands, and signed for him to rise.

[Ill.u.s.tration: "SLOW DOG HAS HEARD YOUR CALL," ANSWERED A SNEERING VOICE.]

With difficulty Hawk Eye stood upon his legs, numbed by long binding. He said nothing, however, observing that the sneer still played about Slow Dog's lips.

"Come," commanded the Medicine Man. Hawk Eye obeyed and followed him to the timber belt where the struggle of the previous night had taken place. Presently they came to an Indian camp. There were no tepees, but the several blankets that lay under the trees indicated where the party had lain during the night. A Chippeway Indian squatted beside a fire, holding Hawk Eye's dog by a leash.

[Ill.u.s.tration: {Equipment.}]

CHAPTER XIV