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If America itself had so long passed unknown to the white man, why could not these vast animals also be still living, hidden in the secluded valleys of the great Northwest? Pehansan paused and turned upon the other two eyes that glowed from internal fires.
It will give us a better chance to plant our arrows in him, and he cannot charge more than one at a time." "Good tactics, Roka," whispered Will. Roka, as the oldest, took the center, Pehansan turned to the right and Will to the left.
A wolf stole in between the lodges, killed and carried off a little child. He was trailed by Will, Roka, now his fast friend, and a young warrior named Pehansan, the Crane, because of his extreme height and thinness. But Pehansan's figure, despite its slenderness, was so tough that he seemed able to endure anything, and on this expedition he was the leader.
"Beyond the reach of our arrows they will be, but they will not depart wholly." "Someone must go to the village for help," said Will, "help not only for us, but to take away two or three tons of this good meat. Why, the bull looks even bigger this morning than he did last night. One of my snowshoes is broken, but, if Pehansan will lend me his, I'll make the trip." "You will not," said Roka.
"If this were a man and he bore the same relation to his species he would be thirteen or fourteen feet tall," said Will, his voice still shaking a little. "Why, he'd make most elephants ashamed to be so puny and small." "He, too, like the bears, came out of the far North," said Pehansan. "Maybe there is not another in the world like him."
Will would not have been missed by him a second time. The youth would have been cut to pieces as he struggled for his balance, but Pehansan did a deed worthy of the bravest of the brave. Far more agile on the snowshoes than Will, he thrust himself in front of the animal, waved his bow and shouted to attract his attention.
About an hour after noon they came to the edge of the forest and Pehansan, searching in the snow, found large tracks which were evidently those of hoofs. "Elk?" said Will, "and a big one, too, I suppose." "No," replied Pehansan, "not elk. Something bigger." "What can it be? Moose, then?" "No, not moose. Bigger still!" "I give it up. What is it?"
"As I told you," said Roka, "one young warrior, no matter how wise, cannot think of everything. We will talk not with our mouths but with the blankets." In this case the signals were quite simple. Pehansan passed the blanket twice rapidly over the fire, allowing two great coils of smoke to ascend high in the air, and then dissipate themselves there.
"A mountain buffalo, a bigger beast than those we find in the great herds on the plains, which you know, Waditaka, are very big, too." "Then this giant is ours. He has come in here for food and shelter, and we ought not to have much trouble in finding him. Lead on, Pehansan, and I'll get a chance to use this grand bow sooner than I had thought."
Pehansan, in order to be sure, sent up the two circles again, and the three promptly replied. "It is enough," said Roka joyfully. "Now they will come in great force on their snowshoes, and we will be saved with our huge prize." They waited in the utmost confidence and at times Pehansan sent up the two rings again to guide the relief band.
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