There were no dishes to wash and Meetcha had to eat the scraps without washing them, although to the delight of both men and boys, he went through the motions with every piece he ate.
When the meal was over, Tatanka sat for a while and smoked in silence, while Barker and the boys scanned the prairie from the margin of the grove.
A mile to the south some dark objects were moving in the direction of the wooded knoll, but they could not tell what they were. The boys thought they saw Indians on horseback, but as Barker did not agree with them they called Black Buffalo. After he had looked a minute he said:
“Ox-team and white men. We must wait for them.”
“How can they get away from the Indians on an ox-team?” asked Bill.
“They can’t,” explained Barker, “except by a lucky accident. If any Indians see them, they are lost.”
When the ox-team came within half a mile of the knoll, Tatanka pointed to the west.
Three Indians on horseback were coming across the prairie directly toward the white men, who tried to whip the oxen into a run so as to reach the wooded knoll.
“Get on your horses,” commanded Barker, and the four riders threw themselves quickly between the team and the Sioux.
When the trapper fired a shot at the Sioux, the three Indians turned and then dispersed themselves around the team. They fired their guns, but the bullets all fell short.
On the wagon were two men and several women and children, and the party had been traveling all night.
The Indians followed the team for an hour, but as the party kept to the open prairie, the Sioux at last fell behind and gave up the pursuit.
In the middle of the afternoon, the party reached Henderson, where the owner of the team stayed with friends, while the four horsemen rode rapidly on to Shakopee, which they reached late in the evening.
The news of the outbreak had already reached the town and the people were much excited, although no hostile Indians had been seen in the neighborhood.
On the following day, Wednesday, August 20th, the four horsemen saw no hostile Indians. There were no telegraph lines in those days west and southwest of St. Paul, but the news of the outbreak had reached St. Paul by special messenger, on Tuesday, the day after it started.