Hugh Pendexter

“ Ahead were the steep red banks of the Missouri. At our feet were two cows freshly slain. Flat Mouth inspected them, and for the first time since our flight from the Cheyenne his immobile features showed animation.
"The brains have been taken to dress hides. Hunters did it, not a war-party after meat. Only Mandans hunt here."
The Assiniboins had been lost to sight for a day. In their place we were dreading a Sioux war-party, for the Sioux hung closely about the Mandan villages, seeking to pick off a victim or two. ”

“ The country grew rougher with each hour, and we lost the Assiniboins only when we dropped into the hollows. On surmounting ridge or hillock we raised them to view again, tenaciously sticking to our track. Flat Mouth had eyes only for what was ahead, seeking for some opportunity of shaking the enemy off. I was always staring behind me, fascinated by the implacable purpose that held the savages to the chase. The girl rode with head bowed, seldom bothering to lift her gaze from the ground. Her fear was an accident to her pony. ”

“ The Cheyennes promptly migrated across the Missouri, and since then the red shadow of the Sioux has hung over the Chippewas, with no neutral nation between to minimize the shock of an attack.
The crossing was not difficult and we made it easily and surmounted the opposite bank, but left a trail a bull buffalo could read. Flat Mouth held up his hand for silence and cocked his ear. I heard nothing beyond the usual noise of wood life.
"They're following our trail," he warned. "If we stick to the woods they will overtake us. Our only chance is to take to the open now and ride for it. ”

“ Off at one side and at a distance was an Indian with a gun. Around him were women and children working. These were the gardeners and they were planting and hoeing under an armed guard. This was impressive proof of their daily danger. Even at the very outskirts of their villages they did not dare to move about without a sentinel. Just as the Red River of the North always contained the menace of the Sioux, so did the stretch of woods hold for Mandan and Minnetaree a hidden danger.
At the Pillager's gesture the girl and I halted while he rode to the man with the gun. ”

“ One of the chief's wives followed us to the hut with a huge dish of boiled corn and beans, a tasteless mess, and another of dried meat. The latter was impossible because of the Mandans' preference for tainted to fresh meat, so on the whole we made a sorry meal of it.
Despite our explanation that we had no goods to trade, nor gifts to bestow, the men, women, and children crowded about our hut, eager for us to open our packs. The fact that they had seen all our possessions, namely my bundle of robes, did not spoil their imagination. White people always had gifts, always wanted to trade. ”

“ He likes white men. He will treat you better than his warriors, but he doesn't let anything stand between him and the thing he wants."
From the end of the village rose the girl's wonderful voice, singing her quaint song, in which one heard the rush of the river and the sighing of the wind, a voice of sadness and pathos, yet coloured with a rare beauty. For the first time I realized there were no Indians hanging about us begging for tobacco and gifts. We walked to the guest-hut and found the entire village grouped about it. ”

“ Still on foot, we resumed our flight, the chief picking his course without any hesitation. I suggested the necessity of a turning movement before daylight, but he discouraged it, saying:
"We must keep this way till light. Then we must hide. This is a big war-party. It will be ashamed to go back and face the women without scalps to pay for the braves we have killed. These are the Sioux of the plains, very cruel and fierce. Once they held the country along the lower Red River. They are always at war with the Chippewas." ”

“ We must say we have come from Fort Assiniboin, that the Medicine Hair is the daughter of the big white chief there and that we work for him. The big white chief wishes to open a post here and sends his daughter because her medicine lets her see things we men can not see. He has told us to stay but a few days and to ask for warriors to go back with us as far as the Mouse. The Mandans must not know we were driven here by the Assiniboins. They would think the white woman's medicine was weak and that her father was a little chief if they knew the Assiniboins had made us run. ”

“ Through the Pillager I learned from Big Man that the Minnetaree village was much excited over the arrival of six Cheyennes seeking a peace treaty. Messengers had been sent for Le Borgne to bring him back from the hunt. Black days were waiting for the Sioux, once the treaty was perfected. We paraded the village, finding it a duplicate of the one across the river. We were invited into several huts to eat, but always found the meat abominable. On the outskirts of the village women with hoes made from buffalo shoulder-blades were working in their gardens, with armed men stationed at intervals. ”

“ I could only say—
"We must start before he comes back."
"They will think our coming is a trick if we go away too quickly," he warned. "I will talk with the Mandans and ask if they have seen any signs of Assiniboins or Sioux to the north. We must visit the villages, but in one or two sleeps we might start for the Mouse. Once we reach Fort Assiniboin the Medicine Hair will be safe."
"But Le Borgne would be very blind to make the whites angry by taking one of their women," I protested.
Flat Mouth smiled in grim pity at my ignorance.
"You do not know The Blind," he murmured. ”

“ Flat Mouth took occasion to warn that the hair was medicine and that the white woman had saved the young man's life by preventing his touching it. After that incident the circle widened. In turn the Indians informed us that the Sioux had been very troublesome ever since the snow melted, and that since Le Borgne (The Blind) , the great war chief of the Minnetarees on the Knife a few miles above, had gone out with a hunting party, the Mandans had kept their huts barricaded every night. ”

“ Now that I find I have to shift my responsibilities I am anxious to go back east. I never had believed it, but I do now; a woman is sure to need help some time."
"She wouldn't be a woman if she didn't," I declared. "Even men expect to help each other in this country." ”

“ I remembered what the girl had told me, much to the same effect, and if Flat Mouth was not afraid, I was.
Yet I still hoped and half believed the dark objects were buffaloes. At so great a distance it is impossible to detect any but the most rapid motion. A horse galloping at full speed will scarcely appear to be moving. ”

“ So we decided that Miss Dearness should remain in the guest hut with the chief's wife as attendant, while the Pillager and I found shelter elsewhere. Leaving her with the Indian woman, we went out to look the village over. The Mandans, being a settled people, had no need for dogs, so this nuisance was not in evidence. The children, too, were quite decently mannered, although they would have stolen the clothes off my back had I given them a chance. The population of this and the village across the river was about two thousand. Flat Mouth said. ”

“ He likes women. He has never seen such a woman as Medicine Hair. He is a mighty war chief. His word is law in both Minnetaree and Mandan villages. When we fought the Sioux and the Assiniboins I thought only of escaping to a place where we would not be killed. ”