Hawk Eye

Hawk Eye climbed down the rock and gazed silently at the huge body.

Then looking up into the sky, he murmured: "O Great Mystery, my heart is glad that you have aided me to gain a necklace of bear claws. My spirit sings because you have looked with favor upon the offering of my most beloved possession."

Squatting down beside the bear's body, he lifted one of the paws and carefully examined the great claws before commencing to remove them one by one with his knife.

When all had been cut away, he placed them in the doeskin pouch that hung at his belt. He also slit the pelt down the belly and cut a number of juicy steaks.

"I will return with Raven Wing for the pelt," he thought, as he retraced his steps to the spot where he had dropped his bow and quiver of arrows. After some little distance he came upon them and the body of the rabbit which he had killed.

As he made his way back to the shore, he noticed that the sun was high in the heavens. Raven Wing by this time must be wondering what had kept him away for so long a time. Quickening his steps into a run, he soon came to their beached canoes. A fire which had been kindled on the sand had burned down to a heap of dead ashes. He looked about for Raven Wing. He was nowhere in sight.

CHAPTER VIII

"I may as well go back and skin the bear. Raven Wing may not return for some little time," he thought. The morning had already slipped away and by the time the bear's pelt could be removed he realized that the sun would be low in the sky. So he set off without delay, stopping only at a tiny spring for a cool drink.

On nearing the spot where he had first encountered the bear, his ears caught the sound of some one treading softly. As he slipped behind a tree trunk and fitted an arrow to his bowstring, he heard Raven Wing's voice calling.

"Thought at first you might be the mate of the bear I killed a while ago," cried Hawk Eye, coming out into the open.

"What! You say you have slain a bear?" exclaimed Raven Wing, dropping a couple of prairie chickens which he had shot.

"Come, I will show you my kill," answered Hawk Eye.

"I was following your trail from the hillside when I caught sight of you at the edge of the timber," explained Raven Wing. "From what I now see of the trail I should judge you were being chased by the bear."

"I was," admitted Hawk Eye, with a grin. "But it was no laughing matter at the time, as you will soon see for yourself."

Presently they came to the rocky, flat open space. As Raven Wing advanced and caught sight of the animal's huge form lying close to the base of the giant boulder, he uttered a cry of amazement.

"What a bear!" he cried. "But look! Someone has already removed the claws."

"They are safe in my doeskin pouch," answered Hawk Eye. "I wished to make sure of a necklace of bear claws before leaving the body."

"The Great Spirit has rewarded you for sacrificing the necklace of panther claws," said Raven Wing in an awe-struck voice.

"He has indeed," agreed Hawk Eye. After a moment's silence Hawk Eye said, "Help me remove the pelt."

Without further words both boys set to work. It was no mean job they had undertaken. They found it necessary to cut down two strong young saplings with which to turn over the immense body. At length they were able to tear the hide clear of the carcass.

As Raven Wing bound it up in a neat, tight roll, he remarked, "I see you have already taken the choice cuts."

"They are in my canoe," answered Hawk Eye, wiping his blood-stained hands on the bear's head.

"We have another pelt to trade," chuckled Raven Wing, shouldering the package. "We had better start at once for the river. The sun is low."

"Yes," answered Hawk Eye. "I do not like the idea of leaving our canoes for so long a time. Let us make haste."

CHAPTER IX

"Not so long ago buffaloes roamed this prairie," remarked Hawk Eye. "Now they graze further toward the land of the setting sun."

"We will have plenty of fresh meat for our evening meal," said Raven Wing.

"Yes, we have more than enough with the prairie hens you shot and the bear meat," chuckled Hawk Eye.

"You also killed a rabbit," added Raven Wing.

On arriving at the beach where their canoes lay, Hawk Eye unrolled the bear hide and spread it very carefully from one bow to another.

"At sunrise," he said, "I will scrape it clean with my knife. I think it will dry in the sun as we paddle and make a good pelt."

Raven Wing collected an armful of dry wood and started a fire. Before long both hungry boys were enjoying a hearty meal of prairie hen and rabbit meat. After a drink at the spring nearby, they spread their blankets beneath a tree and went to sleep.

At sunup Hawk Eye set to work on the bear pelt while Raven Wing re-kindled the fire and prepared their morning meal. When this was finished, he covered the smouldering embers with fresh earth and followed Hawk Eye to the beach. Pushing their canoes into the water, they bent to the paddles.

At this point the river was narrow. Again fallen trees blocked the channel. At times the boys found it necessary to push them out of the way. Progress was slow, and the sun was well up in the sky by the time they passed the mouth of a small river called The Last Stream With Trees.

"Fearless Bear told me the Minnesota coils like a snake. He spoke the truth," remarked Hawk Eye. "I have already counted eight turns in less distance than the eye can reach."

"The turns do not bother me," answered Raven Wing. "But I have heard that there are rapids further on. They may cause us trouble."

"We will make a portage," said Hawk Eye. "We cannot trust our pelts to the angry waters."

"Then we must unload the canoes and shoulder the packs," said Raven Wing. "That will not be easy."

"It will be hard work," agreed Hawk Eye.

Instead of going ashore for their midday meal, the boys ate pemmican while paddling. At sundown they ran the canoes ashore and prepared to make camp for the night. After a hearty meal of bear meat which had been well-cooked the day before, they rolled themselves in their blankets and lay down for the night. For some little time they lay awake listening to the night noises. But they were weary with paddling, and in spite of the persistent calls of the whippoorwills, they at length fell into a sound sleep.

Hawk Eye was the first to awaken. Seeing Raven Wing still asleep, he quietly strode down to the river for a bath. As Raven Wing still slept on, Hawk Eye unpacked some pemmican and ate his morning meal. Presently Raven Wing awoke and seeing that Hawk Eye was about ready to launch the canoes, he hurried down to the river to bathe. He would have launched his own craft had not the elder boy wisely counseled him to first make a hearty meal. Before long they were both out on the river.

On coming to the rapids, Hawk Eye grounded his craft on a narrow strip of sand and unloaded. As soon as Raven Wing had placed his packs upon the sand, Hawk Eye said;

"You and I will shoulder my canoe and carry it beyond the rapids."

Waist-high in the tumbling waters they bore it to quiet water and laid it on the shore. When Raven Wing's canoe had been safely transported, they returned for the packs. One by one these were carried through the rapids without mishap. The canoes were then pushed into the water and reloaded. Once more the boys took their seats and paddled down stream.

CHAPTER X

"I think there may be beavers upstream," pointing to a rivulet that emptied into the Minnesota a short distance from them. "If so, and there are many, we can come here later on and get pelts. Shall we see?"

"By all means," agreed Raven Wing. "Let us go at once."

Picking up their bows and arrows, they started off. Following the winding course of the stream for a considerable distance they came to a dam which held back the water and formed a fair-sized lake.

At once the boys knew that it had been built by beavers. The Musquash, sometimes called the muskrat, although it ought to be called the muskbeaver, because it is really a beaver and no rat at all, never builds dams nor digs canals. It has a flat tail like the beaver and not at all resembling the tapering tail of water rat. It builds houses, much like the beaver's, only smaller.

"We will not forget this spot," chuckled Raven Wing. "We will get many pelts on our next visit."

"No one shall learn of its location," added Hawk Eye. "We will get the pelts for ourselves."

"The dam is in fine condition," said Raven Wing, who had climbed up upon it.

Not a beaver was to be seen, however. The wary animals had dived out of sight at hearing the boys approach.

"Fearless Bear once told me," remarked Raven Wing, "that hunters rarely see beavers building a dam. He says that they build at night and that it is no easy matter for a hunter to watch them."

"The musquash is easier to hunt," said Hawk Eye. "But he is less than half the size of the beaver; besides, his pelt is not so valuable."

"I've seen a beaver caught that weighed almost eighty pounds," said Raven Wing. "It had beautiful fur and a tail as big as a musquash."

"No fur on its tail," laughed Hawk Eye. "It's covered with rough scales. Beaver uses it to scull its way through the water."

"I wish the dam were larger," said Raven Wing. "Big dam, many beavers."

"There are plenty of beavers here," said Hawk Eye. "Enough for you and me unless some hunter comes across it before another snow."

As Raven Wing stepped off the dam and walked upstream along the bank, he said; "Fearless Bear told the hunters one night when I was in his lodge, that he had seen a beaver dam near a great body of water that measured two hundred and sixty feet long and six feet high."

"Might not have been so many beavers at work on it," said Hawk Eye. "Probably it took a long time to build it."

As the boys strolled along they noted the number of stumps which were all that remained of the trees which the beavers had cut down and divided into short lengths, such as could be carried by mouth when building the dam.

"Sharp teeth to cut these trees," remarked Raven Wing. "Some of these stumps are two feet thick."

"Did Fearless Bear tell you how the beaver works?" asked Hawk Eye.

"He supports himself by his tail when he rears on his hind legs to cut down a tree," answered Raven Wing. "With his teeth he cuts the wood as neatly as a hunter cuts it with his hatchet. No nibbling like a mouse," went on Raven Wing, "he makes a neat job, and can even make the tree fall in the direction he wishes."

"What else did Fearless Bear say?" asked Hawk Eye.

"When the beaver has cut the tree into short lengths he drags the cuttings to the place where he is to build the dam. He brings the branches, too, in his mouth and rolls stones along the shore to pile on them and hold them in place. At first the dam is rough and loose, but the beavers keep constantly at work, smoothing and pressing it down and stopping all the gaps with clay and pebbles from the bank. As time goes on it becomes overgrown with grass and bushes and looks as if it were a natural bank, just like this one," said Raven Wing.

"After a freshet, beaver must make repairs," remarked Hawk Eye.

"Fearless Bear told me he once made holes in a dam and during the night watched the beavers patch up the damaged places," laughed Raven Wing.

"I wouldn't care to be a beaver," said Hawk Eye. "It must be tiresome to live under the ice roof of a pond. I've noticed how the beavers sport and play when the ice breaks up."

Raven Wing turned on his heel and pointed to a beaver lodge. It stood not far from the bank, its roof above the water line. Both boys were well aware that the beaver builds the doorway to his lodge well below the freezing line. As they both stood looking at the deserted lodge, Raven Wing said; "Beaver often has two openings down deep in the water. Through these hidden entrances he drags branches and pieces of bark up to his dining room, which being above the water line, is dry and comfortable."

"Come," said Hawk Eye. "Let us go back to our canoes now. We have seen enough for today."

As they strode toward the Minnesota River, Raven Wing said; "I shall trade some of my pelts for steel traps. With these we can catch the beaver more easily than by spears."

"I will, too," said Hawk Eye.

"We will not have to bait the traps," went on Raven Wing. "Fearless Bear tells me to merely rub them with some odor or essence of which the animals are fond."

"That will be easy," grinned Hawk Eye.

Presently they rounded a bend in the little stream and came to the spot where they had beached their canoes. To their dismay they found that they had disappeared.

CHAPTER XI

"He has gone downstream with them," said Raven Wing. "His canoe was probably caught in the swift current as it rounded the point and was carried downstream before he could tow the canoes into the big river, and his towline tightened across the point and grounded our first canoe here. Then he came back and pushed it off and around the point."

"We must follow," said Hawk Eye. Keeping as close to the river as was possible, the boys set off at an easy lope. Presently they were forced to change their course, for the willows, cottonwoods, elms and soft maples that lined the banks made progress slow and difficult.

Leaving the narrow valley through which the river made continuous twists and turns, they hurried up the slope and soon found themselves on the treeless prairie, which stretched far away to the sky. As far as eye could reach not a tree could be seen. Except for great boulders of granite and limestone which dotted it here and there, the plain was covered with grass.

As they turned to follow a course parallel with that of the river, Raven Wing thoughtfully remarked:

"We are not sure that our canoes are being taken downstream."

"The thief," answered Hawk Eye, "would have to pass many Sioux villages on the banks of the river if he did otherwise. He will take the pelts to the trading post at Mendota."

"Yes, you are right," answered Raven Wing. "Why should he tow our heavy laden canoes upstream? And how would he account for their possession should he meet with any of our own people? We are two birds with broken wings. Paddles and current will carry the canoes faster than we can hope to run for any length of time."

"But we must get back our canoes," answered Hawk Eye.

Raven Wing made no answer. He slowly loosened the leather thong about his neck and opened a small doeskin bag that hung by a leather thong about his neck. Squatting down he took out the wing of a crow.

"I will make medicine," he said. After some little time he replaced the crow's wing in the doeskin bag and fastened the leather thong about his neck.

"The Great Mystery bids me remember how the river runs," he said.

"And how does it run?" asked Hawk Eye.

Tightening its string until the bow was shaped like a half moon, Raven Wing laid it upon the ground. Placing an arrow, pointed outward, at the center of the curved ash wood, he said, "This arrow points to the Ever Summer Land."

Setting another arrow, with feathered end against the bowstring at a point half way between the tips, he dropped a pebble beside it and said; "This arrow points to the Land of Snows."

When a third arrow, pointed outward, with two pebbles beside it, had been placed at one tip of the bow, he said;

"Thither lies the Land of the Rising Sun."

The fourth and last arrow he laid with stone head pointing outward, at the other tip of the bow. Then, having placed three pebbles beside it, he said;

"Thither lies the Land of the Setting Sun."

"The Great Mystery is kind," remarked Hawk Eye.

"He has bid me remember my stepfather's description of the Minnesota's course," answered Raven Wing.

"And now what do you propose to do?" asked Hawk Eye.

"We will make a trail across the prairie towards the rising sun straight as the flight of an arrow. Come; let us start," answered Raven Wing.

At once both boys set off at an easy lope. Ohitika bounded ahead, flushing a flock of ground sparrows which chattered loudly at the interruption to their grassy nest building. But to the clamor of their voices and whirring wings the dog failed to see a badger which was burrowing in the sod.

As the boys pressed on, larks and blue birds filled the air with song; prairie wolves skulked away to grove and swale, and rattlesnakes glided over moist places to rocky shelter.

High up in the sky a sand-hill crane, northward bound in lonely flight, sounded a far off call.

"'Tis a good omen," cried Hawk Eye.

CHAPTER XII

Both boys dropped to the ground. Hawk Eye fastened a moccasin to one end of his bow and slowly waved it to and fro. In a few minutes an antelope came slowly toward them. Pausing now and again, it gradually came within range. In the meantime Raven Wing had set the head of an arrow against the string. At length he let it fly. The stricken animal gave a leap into the air and fell to the ground. Its frightened comrades galloped away and were out of range before Raven Wing could send out another arrow.

The sun was now near its setting, so the boys decided to make camp close to a great boulder. From a clump of low bushes Raven Wing gathered enough dry twigs and leaves to make a small fire, and before long strips of antelope meat were roasting over the flames. The bushes grew around a tiny spring, at which they drank and satisfied their thirst before they sat down to eat.

When the meal was ended, Hawk Eye said: "Let us cut up the choice parts of the antelope into thin strips. These can be hung from a strip of hide and allowed to dry in the sun as we journey on."

For some little time before darkness came down the boys were busy preparing the meat for drying.

"We will get up with the sun," said Hawk Eye, as he stretched himself on the ground.

At the first pale tint of dawn the boys awoke. After drinking and bathing at the spring they ate heartily of the portion of well cooked meat that remained from their evening meal. Taking another long drink at the spring, they hung their bows from their shoulders and lifted the leather thong with the strips of meat from the bush tops.

"The wind and the sun will soon dry the meat," remarked Hawk Eye, taking hold of one end. Raven Wing grasped the other and they set off over the short, light green, hair-like grass of the upland. Dew glittered on stem and flower as the sun rose higher. Now and again the peep of the prairie chick or the call of the plover came to their ears. As they neared a rocky ridge a badger slipped into his den.

At length Raven Wing remarked, "Very soon we should come across a trail to the river."

"The trail of the paleface trader Renville?" inquired Hawk Eye.

"Yes; 'tis wide and well worn by the wheels of his carts and the hoofs of his oxen," answered Raven Wing.

As the sun reached the middle of the sky, Hawk Eye stopped. Dropping his end of the leather thong, he said;

"We have not yet found the trail. Let us spread apart. I will follow a line running between the land of Snows and the Rising Sun. You go forward slantingly toward the Ever Summer Land. But neither of us may go far without again setting face toward the Rising Sun. By so doing, one of us may come upon the trail as we journey toward the upward bend of the river."

"We must keep within the sound of each other's voice," cautioned Raven Wing.

"Yes," agreed Hawk Eye. "I will shoulder the meat. It is by now quite dry." Making a bundle of the strips, he set off at a slant towards the north. Raven Wing veered towards the south.

Before long he halted at a faint, distant call from Hawk Eye.

"He has come across the trail," said Raven Wing to himself. Turning toward the north, he broke into a run. As he came to the ridge of a low swell of ground, he saw Hawk Eye. In a few minutes he stood beside him.

"You have found the trail," he laughed, perceiving the sunken track made by cart wheels.

"Yes, but we must go fast to catch the thief," answered Hawk Eye. "We must gain a point of vantage on the bank ahead of him. Once there, we can lay plans to recover our stolen canoes."

CHAPTER XIII

Hawk Eye grunted in assent. Once only did they pause for water at a spring in the midst of a clump of cottonwood trees.

As the sun rose they neared the river and soon after they were camping not far from a bluff, eating their breakfast beside a small fire, which sent so thin a column of smoke into the air that it was almost dissipated before it reached the treetops.

When the meal was over, Raven Wing said:

"I will take Ohitika and keep watch over the river while you get some sleep." Armed with his bow and arrows, he strode off toward the brow of the bluff.

Hawk Eye loaded his gun and placed it against a tree, together with powder horn and bullet pouch. Then, throwing himself at full length on the green moss beneath the tree, he fell into a sound sleep.

Scarcely a quarter of an hour had passed when he was startled by the report of a gun, which was followed by a war cry from Raven Wing and a series of war whoops. At the same instant, and before he could attempt to rise, his legs and arms were pinioned to the ground by two Indians. For a minute Hawk Eye was paralyzed. Then the terrible reality of his position, the cry of warning from Raven Wing, and the sight of the thong with which his captors were about to bind him, brought him to his senses. With a display of strength that surprised his captors, he hurled them right and left. As one of them struggled to his feet, he received a blow from Hawk Eye's tomahawk that felled him; the other, fearing for his life, dodged behind a tree.

As Hawk Eye glanced quickly around in search of his gun which no longer rested against the tree, he saw Raven Wing between the tree trunks being hurried away by two other Indians. As the arrow leaps from the bow Hawk Eye sprang forward in pursuit. The Indians saw him coming, but having dropped their guns in the scuffle with Raven Wing, they were unable to fire at Hawk Eye as he approached. At this point the Indian who had hidden behind the tree threw a heavy stick which struck Hawk Eye on the back of the head with such force that he fell, bleeding and insensible, upon the ground.

When Hawk Eye recovered from the effects of the blow, he found himself lying on the cold earth in total darkness, and firmly bound hand and foot.

In vain he tried to break the leather thongs. He called loudly for Raven Wing, hoping his friend had somehow escaped and would come to his aid. But only echoes of his own voice answered him. The dreadful thought now flashed across his mind that the enemy had buried him alive in some dark cave. At length the gray dawn shone in upon him and showed that he was in a deep hollow in the bluff overhanging the river.

Again he called to Raven Wing. Scarcely had the echoes of his voice died away, when a man's figure darkened the mouth of the cave.

"Raven Wing!" cried Hawk Eye.

"Slow Dog has heard your call," answered a sneering voice. Bending over the helpless boy the Medicine Man drew a scalping knife from his belt and cut the thong that bound his feet and hands, and signed for him to rise.

With difficulty Hawk Eye stood upon his legs, numbed by long binding. He said nothing, however, observing that the sneer still played about Slow Dog's lips.

"Come," commanded the Medicine Man. Hawk Eye obeyed and followed him to the timber belt where the struggle of the previous night had taken place. Presently they came to an Indian camp. There were no tepees, but the several blankets that lay under the trees indicated where the party had lain during the night. A Chippeway Indian squatted beside a fire, holding Hawk Eye's dog by a leash.

CHAPTER XIV

"Son of Running Deer," said the Medicine Man, "I have no cause to quarrel with you. But between Black Eagle and me there is much bad blood. You shall return to your village. It is mine no longer. Say to Old Smoky Wolf that I have become a Chippeway; that I and my Chippeway brothers will soon pay a visit to his village to take scalps. Say to Black Eagle that I shall hold his stepson a captive."

As he finished, Ohitika gave a sudden spring, whipping the leash from the hand of the Indian beside the fire. Leaping across the ground, he sprang at Slow Dog's throat. As the Medicine Man raised his foot and kicked the animal, Hawk Eye dealt him a blow between the eyes and darted off, followed by the faithful dog.

On coming to a tree against which were propped two guns, with powder horns and bullet pouches, he slowed down to pick them up, then dashed ahead. At a distance of fifty feet or more he saw Raven Wing, bound to a tree. One of the guns he had captured carried a ramrod sharpened at one end, and on coming up to Raven Wing, he began to sever the thongs that bound him with the sharpened point. Before he could finish, however, Slow Dog, who had followed, sprang upon him. Staggering forward, Hawk Eye fell to the ground, carrying the Medicine Man with him.

As Slow Dog attempted to rise, Hawk Eye raised his foot and struck him so heavily upon the stomach that he fell with a groan and lay writhing upon the ground. In the meantime, the Chippeway had come up and springing like an infuriated tiger toward Raven Wing, drove a knife at the boy's throat.

Fortunately, Raven Wing's arms were tied in front of him, so that by raising them he was enabled to ward off the blow. The knife fortunately merely scratched the fleshy part of his left arm, but in doing so severed the thong that bound them. With a mighty wrench Raven Wing burst the thong that Hawk Eye had all but severed, and slipped around behind the tree. As the Chippeway again rushed after him, Hawk Eye felled him with the butt of his gun.

"Follow me!" shouted Hawk Eye, and bounded toward the cave in the bluff, which was not more than fifty yards distant. A couple of arrows from the bows of two Chippeway Indians who were returning to camp from an early hunting trip followed him. The suddenness of his flight, however, had rendered their hasty aim uncertain, and in another moment he was around and behind the sheltering cliff. With wild yells the Indians darted forward in pursuit.

About thirty paces beyond the point of the cliff that hid him for a few moments from view, was the cave in which he had spent the night. Quick as thought he sprang up the steep trail to its entrance and darted in. Crouching behind a ledge of rock close to the entrance, he waited for the two Indians to appear. Presently he saw one of them peering around the bend in the cliff wall. Raising his gun to his shoulder, he fired. The Indian's face disappeared from sight, but whether the bullet had hit the mark, Hawk Eye could not determine.

In the meantime Raven Wing, not daring to run into range of the arrows from the two Indians, had darted into the bushes and made for the rocky ground in the rear of the camp. In doing so he happened to pass the tree against which Slow Dog had rested Hawk Eye's gun, with shot-belt and powder horn. Picking them up, he climbed over the rocks and up to a wooded ridge that overlooked the cave in which Hawk Eye had sought shelter.

From this high point Raven Wing noticed that the bed of dried up water course led through the bushes towards the cave. Without further delay he hurried down to it, and sped swiftly along between its high bush-bordered banks. But, on drawing near to the cave, he was disappointed to find an open space, without tree or shrub, between it and the edge of the bushes.

CHAPTER XV

While debating as to what might be the best thing to do, he looked towards the cave and to his surprise saw Hawk Eye signing to him from behind a ledge of rock that screened him completely from the view of the enemy.

Answering the sign to assure his friend that he had seen him, Raven Wing made a series of signs which were finally understood by Hawk Eye to mean that he was to come out and expose himself to the view of the Indians.

Stepping out of the cave, he uttered a piercing war whoop and darted back. Slow Dog and his comrades answered with a volley of arrows. This was just what Raven Wing had expected, and before they could again fit arrows to their bows, he dashed across the open space and slipped into the cave, followed by Ohitika.

Angered at being outwitted by a boy, Slow Dog and the Chippeways rushed forward across the open space, but before they had covered half its distance, a bullet from Hawk Eye's gun brought one of the Chippeways tumbling to earth. Without waiting to pick him up, Slow Dog and his comrade sought the shelter of the bushes, where they lay concealed. From the mouth of the cave the boys could see four canoes drawn up on the beach. As Hawk Eye reloaded his gun, Raven Wing caught sight of an Indian stealing down towards the canoes. Lifting the gun to his shoulder, Raven Wing fired and the Chippeway fell face downward on the sand.

"Good!" grunted Hawk Eye. "The odds are now with us. However, Slow Dog's craftiness more than equals ours. If he sees he cannot get us, he will try to make off with our canoes."

"But if he ventures on the beach, he knows he will be shot," remarked Raven Wing.

"He will wait for darkness," said Hawk Eye.

"Darkness protects the rabbit as well as the fox," cried Raven Wing. As he finished, a low exclamation burst from Hawk Eye's lips. "Look!" he said. "Someone is stealing through the bushes!"

"The bodies of the two braves still lie upon the ground," said Raven Wing. "Perhaps the brave we left for dead in the camp has recovered."