Chapter VI
Far away from the camp where Songbird waited her father's return, Star,with his mother and the other Comanche ponies, travelled rapidly, whileQuannah watched the country with eyes as sharp and bright as those of aneagle.
Strange warriors from the Kiowas rode into camp on ponies which werecovered with dry lather that told how far and how fast the men hadridden. At the same time Comanche messengers were being sent off onponies, and there was a constant stir in the camp.
Star wondered about it, until he could restrain his curiosity no longer.
"Where do they go?" he questioned Running Deer, at last. His mother hadbeen very nervous and cross, and she answered sharply:
"They go to see where the white men travel, so that Quannah may knowwhere to find them. Be quiet, now. Watch and you will learn everythingfor yourself. Do not talk too much, but watch and listen, then you willgrow wise."
Quannah was lifting his hand, and Star's bright eyes saw one of theyoungest warriors ride up to the chief.
"Let me go this time," begged the young man.
"Your pony is not swift enough," replied the chief, and the young manbowed his head in shame.
"He has but one pony," Running Deer spoke scornfully to Star. "He ispoor and his mare is old. When his father went to the Happy HuntingGrounds he left but two ponies for his son, and one of them has died.His heart is brave, but his pony's legs are weak, so he will not besent."
As Quannah began speaking, Star lifted his head quickly.
"You shall go. Running Deer is the swiftest pony of the Comanche herd,and Star, her colt, though young and untried, should be fleet-footed andsure. You shall ride him to-day."
In a few minutes the young warrior was seated on Star's bare back.Running Deer watched anxiously. But the colt's back did not weaken, nordid he flinch beneath the man's weight. It seemed no more of a burdenthan when Songbird had ridden him.
"Watch out for prairie-dog holes and loose, smooth stones," cautionedRunning Deer. "When you go most swiftly, hold your nose level with yourshoulders, and look straight before you without turning your head fromside to side. Do not leap high, but let your body drop low to the earthwhen you run, and in that way you can outstrip other ponies and notweary for many long miles. If your rider falls from you, do not leavehim, but stay near by until he climbs again to your back, or someonecomes for you. And always remember that you belong to the Chief of theComanches."
While Running Deer was speaking, Quannah was talking in a low voice tothe young man who sat on Star's back. As the chief's words ceased, thepony felt the rider lean forward, and his knees press closely againsthis sides; then, like an arrow shot from a strong bow, Star, son ofRunning Deer, darted on his way.
The fresh breeze swept into the pony's nostrils, it tossed his thick,black mane, and his long tail streamed like a tattered black flag, whilethe Comanche lying low against Star's shoulder seemed to be a part ofthe animal he was riding.
Across the wide prairie the pony raced, guided by a noose of plaitedrawhide. He did not need the pressure of this rope on his neck, for themere movement of the Indian's body was enough to tell him which way togo. No whip or blow from the rider's heels was necessary. Starunderstood that the chief had sent him, and the son of Running Deer mustprove himself worthy of her training and his heritage.
All day they travelled. At intervals the Indian made him walk a shortdistance, then once more Star broke into the smooth, swift run. Theypassed near a band of startled antelopes which whirled and dashed away;farther off, a bunch of galloping buffaloes thudded with their headsheld low down, the humps on their shoulders rising and falling likesmall waves of dark water, but the Indian on Star's back paid no heed tothem. The quiver full of sharply pointed arrows remained slung acrosshis back.
Just before dusk the Comanche halted among huge rocks. Slipping from thepony's back, he held his fingers tightly about Star's nose, to preventthe animal from calling out. Some distance below them, the pony saw agreat multitude of white-faced men and big ponies. The men were dressedin strange clothes instead of the robes that Indians wore. Some of themlifted things from their heads, and Star stared in surprise at the shorthair. Quannah and all the Indians the pony had ever seen had worn longbraids of hair called scalp-locks. It was a disgrace for a warrior tolose his scalp lock, and a great trophy of victory for any foe who cutit off. So the pony wondered why Quannah should be so grave aboutfighting men who had lost their scalp-locks.
As the men rode nearer, Star saw belts filled with things that gleamed,and there were long, bright sticks in their hands. The pony understoodat once that these were what his mother had spoken about. Things thatcould roar like angry buffaloes and spit fire that killed Comanchewarriors and ponies. He shivered and shrank back, but as he felt theIndian's fingers tighten, the pony remembered that Quannah had sent themhere, and he must stay with his rider.
Star forgot his fears in watching the men fix many white tepees in longrows, and there were strange things that looked like long, round-toppedhills of snow which moved slowly forward, each dragged by sixqueer-looking animals. Star had never seen such strange ponies. Theywere all dark brown like the bark on trees, their ears were very long,their heads large, they had no flowing manes, and the only hair on theirtails was in a thick bunch at the very end. While Star watched them, oneof the creatures lifted up its nose and uttered a terrific noise.Instantly the others joined, and the din was so frightful that Starwould have turned and raced away had not the Comanche held tightly tothe pony's nose. It was the first time in his life that Star had seenwhite men, and he had never heard any pony speak of mules or wagons.
The young warrior crouched low. Before the noise ceased, he had led Starvery cautiously until they gained a spot out of sight and hearing of thewhite men. Then leaping to the pony's back, the Indian raced furiouslytoward Quannah's camp in the sheltering hills. It was past dawn when theComanche halted at Quannah's side. The whole camp was astir.
Other couriers had arrived from different points, on ponies streakedwith dust. While the animals rubbed noses together, the messengers toldQuannah what each had seen.
The man who had ridden Star was the first to speak.
"Great bands of white men are coming from all four sides of the world.The band I saw is larger than all the Kiowas and Comanches together.They are one day's ride from here and they are travelling this way."
"And in another place I saw a band of fighting men coming this way,"spoke a second courier.
"Still another big band comes from the opposite side," the third manspoke.
"And back on our own trail, I saw them travelling toward us." The lastspeaker was one of the head chiefs under Quannah. "I left my pony a longway off that he might not make any noise and warn the white men. Then Icrawled like a snake until I reached a hill near the white tepees. Iheard men's voices but I could not understand what they said. They speaka different tongue from ours. But there were so many men and so manyponies that they were as the leaves on the trees or the blades of grass.How shall we fight them and hope to conquer?"
"They will surround us from all sides, as the hunters gather around aherd of antelopes," one of the men said. "If they were not in back ofus, we could go to the camp where the women and children wait."
Quannah looked at the trail which led toward his little daughter, as hesaid in a voice that all could hear plainly, "We will do it. I have aplan. We must protect our women and children!"
Then the Medicine Man, who had remained silent, stood beside theComanche Chief. With hands uplifted toward the sky the old man calledupon the Great Spirit to hear his children and aid them in the fight tosave the game and the grass and the homes of the Comanche people fromthe white men who wished to destroy them.
After that Star watched the warriors hold up their long bows and quiversfilled with slender arrows, that the Medicine Man's blessing might makethe arrows strong and sure, give strength to their fingers and clearvision to their eyes in the battle for their homes and those whom th
eyloved.