第15章 THE MADNESS OF BALD EAGLE(2)

"Then he said: 'The Rees wish to do battle with them; you had better withdraw from their camp.'

"Accordingly the Blackfeet retired about a mile from us upon the bluffs and pitched their tents, while the Yanktonnais remained on the flats. The two bands had been great rivals in courage and the art of war, so we did not ask for help from our kinsfolk, but during the night we dug trenches about the camp, the inner one for the women and children, and the outer one for the men to stay in and do battle.

"The next morning at daybreak the enemy landed and approached our camp in great num- bers. Some of their women and old men came also, and sat upon the bluffs to watch the fight and to carry off their dead and wounded. The Blackfeet likewise were watching the battle from the bluffs, and just before the fight began one Blackfoot came in with his wife and joined us. His name was Red Dog's Track, but from that day he was called He-Came-Back. His wife was a Yanktonnais, and he had said to her: 'If I don't join your tribe to-day, my brothers-in-law will call me a coward.'

"The Sioux were well entrenched and well armed with guns and arrows, and their aim was deadly, so that the Rees crawled up gradu- ally and took every opportunity to pick off any Sioux who ventured to show his head above the trenches. In like manner every Ree who ex- posed himself was sure to die.

"Up to this time no one had seen the two men who made all the trouble. There was a natural hollow in the bank, concealed by buffalo berry bushes, very near where they stood when Bald Eagle shot the Ree.

"'Friend,' said Big Whip, 'it is likely that our own people will punish us for this deed. They will pursue and kill us wherever they find us. They have the right to do this. The best thing is to drop into this washout and remain there until they cease to look for us.'

"They did so, and remained hidden during the night. But, after the fight began, Big Whip said again: 'Friend, we are the cause of the deaths of many brave men this day. We com- mitted the act to show our bravery. We dared each other to do it. It will now become us as warriors to joinour band.'

"They both stripped, and taking their weap- ons in hand, ran toward the camp. They had to pass directly through the enemy's lines, but they were not recognized till they had fairly passed them. Then they were between two fires. When they had almost reached the en- trenchment they faced about and fired at the Rees, jumping about incessantly to avoid being hit, as is the Indian fashion. Bullets and ar- rows were flying all about them like hail, but at last they dropped back unhurt into the Sioux trenches. Thus the two men saved their repu- tation for bravery, and their people never openly reproached them for the events of that day. Young men are often rash, but it is not well to reprove one for a brave deed lest he become a coward.

"Many were killed, but more of the Rees than of our band. About the middle of the afternoon there came a cold rain. It was in the fall of the year. The bow-strings were wet, and the guns were only flint-locks. You know when the flint becomes wet it is useless, and it looked as if the fight must be with knives.

"But the Rees were much disheartened. They had lost many. The women were all the time carrying off the wounded, and there were the Blackfoot Sioux watching them from the hills. They turned and fled toward the river. The Sioux followed like crazy wolves, toma- hawking the tired and slow ones. Many were killed at the boats, and some of the boats were punctured with shot and sank. Some carried a load of Sioux arrows back across the river. That was the greatest battle ever fought by our band," the old man concluded, with a deep sigh of mingled satisfaction and regret.