The long sweeping
tails of these animals had also been cut off. That it was the Pawnee
Picts, they no longer doubted; and fearful was the ire of the Osages
at the contempt with which they had been treated. The trail of their
night visitors was plainly marked, and led towards a copse, where
they had evidently left their horses. It then turned to the
river-bank, and was lost. Nah-com-e-shee, however, glancing his eye
over the opposite plain, gave a cry of delight, and pointed out to
his companions the flashing of spears in the morning sun.
To plunge into the river, to reach the other shore, and to ride madly
over the plain in chase of their audacious foes, was the work of an
instant. In vain, however, they strained their eyes to catch another
glimpse of the retreating party, until again the flashing of the
spear-heads was seen near at hand, and plunging over the next
hillock, the friends found themselves in presence of--three lances
stuck in the ground. If the Indians boiled with passion before, their
rage now knew no bounds: they vowed, with little consideration for
the possibility or probability of the matter, to exterminate every
Pawnee Pict from the face of the earth.
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