Browning chief. [volume] (Browning, Mont.) 1941-1953, 1944-05-12
CHAPTER XIV

IhereS the trail; why don't we
follow it? Where you going now?"
Same place they are" Willy
trudged on. In a moment he said,
by different-ways." He peered up
at the Wichita slope and turned his
head around. "Here now" A dry
canyon had opened. He turned up
its narrow groove.
A deeper grayness filled the mar
row canyon swiftly. Still ahead Of
him, old WHY'S thin figure trudged
on unhurried.
When he halted it was with sud-
den warning gesture, turning and
patting his mouth. Lew swung off
his horse and went to him afoot.
They had come to low divide at
the top OF the canyon. A little slope
went gently down toward a big
meadow that made a lighter pool
OF gray in the dark basin of trees.
They were not more than fifty yards
from the first of many Indian
camps.
Their fires trimmed the meadow
halfway around. But all of those in
the further darkness seemed desert
ed except for women and children.
Only this one close below them had
men. Suddenly he gripped old Will
ly's arm.
Like I thought" Willy whis-
pered. "This camp is Crazy Bears.
It's where he'd bring her then"
A stolid procession of bucks
moved into the freight. Joy walked
in front Of Crazy Bear who led the
line. Her arms were down stiffiy
at her sides; her back was straight;
he knew the defiance that blazed
in her eyes. Near the fire Crazy
Bear reached out and touched her.
She struck his hand away. Then
swarm o. women crowded up to
them, filling the air with an an
gered talk.
Quietly old Willy said, Lets
work down"
The oak trunks sheltered them.
They worked into the black shadow
of one of the lodges and came in be-
hind its cone shape.
Around Crazy Bear the squaws'
high-noted talk was getting wild.
There was one, Crazy Bears wife,
most likely, standing up close to
him and screaming to get her say in.
1t was this one who suddenly
turned on Joy and slapped her
across the face. The girl reeled.
The squaw caught her and showed
her hard into the doorway of a
lodge. At the same time Crazy
Bear made grab for the big wom-
an and pulled her back 1t was
getting to be bang-up family fight.
"Willy!" Lew touched the old
mans side. Beneath the tepee next
to the one in front of them he could
see Joy crouched against the rolled
up skirt. Willy nodded. He half
rose and then bent down. when
you hear cat cry and the horses
running you go in. Head back the
way we come" He crept off silently.
Lew waited, his legs drawn up
beneath him, his boot toes pressed
hard against the ground. He was
a spring ready to unbend. Old Will
ly must have known where the
horses were kept, and they must
have been left standing in a bunch.
For his wait seemed only a mo-
ment when a wildcat screeched
from out toward the meadow.
All the women suddenly shut their
mouths. The bucks stood rooted.
There was that instant of dead
hush; and then the kick and thud
of frightened animals broke it, a
| nf
run. The squaws were yelling
again, a different kind of a yell,
as they swarmcd after the bucks
who had bolted into the dark to
stop their herd. He could see only
the children left. His long legs
drove him in flat dive toward the
tepee's rolled-up skirt.
He spoke her name quickly.
"Joy!" he said. "this way!" She
jerked around on her hands and
knees. The freight showed his
face. The willow poles were close
together. He had to break one with
shove of his arms to get her out.
1t went off like a pistol shot, and a
little boy saw him and raised the
cry. But he had pulled her through
the opening; he was lifting her up
and pushing her on. straight
back" he, said. "Run!"
The women had seen him now.
They screamed. He didn't see the
old buck until it was like long
black shadow leaping at him from
the tepee's side. He dropped his
right fist and rammed it forward
and struck the Indian in the loins.
The figure doubled over on top of
him, falling. He rolled free and ran
with a horrible stencil in his face.
Out in the dark, he had to call
her name again to find her. She