"Perhaps they will follow us," suggested Sun Bird.
The horsemen had suddenly appeared. They had crossed the ravine, and were riding slowly over the plain. The Sioux knew at once that they were looking for pony tracks. It was not long before they found them. They followed the trail a bowshot or more, and then they stopped. They were looking directly toward the ridge. The Sioux watched them in breathless suspense. They were straining their eyes to identify them, but the distance made it impossible.
"I cannot tell who they are," declared White Otter. "Can you tell about it?"
"No; they are too far away," Sun Bird told him. "Perhaps they will come closer."
"I believe they are talking about it," said White Otter.
At that moment the horsemen turned their ponies, and galloped off toward the west. They crossed the ravine, and rode toward the grove. They passed it, however, and continued toward the ridge farther to the westward. It was not long before, they disappeared.
"It is bad," declared White Otter. "Now we do not know who they are."
"Well, we know that our enemies are in this place," Sun Bird told him. "Now it will be useless to look for the buffaloes. If Ta-tan-ka comes, those scouts will tell their people about it. Yes, I believe they are looking for buffaloes."
"My brother, I feel different about it," said White Otter. "Perhaps those scouts are with a war party. Perhaps they are Pawnees. Perhaps they are going to fight my people. I must find out about it."
Sun Bird remained silent. It was not the part of a warrior to ask questions. He waited for White Otter to explain his plans.
"Now I will tell you what I propose to do," White Otter told him. "We must stay here and watch. Perhaps those scouts are trying to fool us. Perhaps they are trying to make us believe they have gone away. I believe they are peeping over that hill."
"Well, they will not catch us," laughed Sun Bird.
While White Otter continued to watch, Sun Bird crept down the slope to tell Little Raven about the two mysterious horsemen. The ridge to the westward was far away, and White Otter knew that it would be impossible to discover any one who might be hiding there. He had little doubt that at least one of the unknown riders had stopped to watch the plain.