They turned and fled toward the river.
The Sioux followed like crazy wolves, toma-
hawking the tired and slow ones. Many were
killed at the boats, and some of the boats were
punctured with shot and sank. Some carried
a load of Sioux arrows back across the river.
That was the greatest battle ever fought by our
band," the old man concluded, with a deep sigh
of mingled satisfaction and regret.
THE SINGING SPIRIT
I
"Ho my steed, we must climb one more
hill! My reputation depends upon
my report!"
Anookasan addressed his pony as if he were
a human companion, urged on like himself by
human need and human ambition. And yet
in his heart he had very little hope of sighting
any buffalo in that region at just that time of
the year.
The Yankton Sioux were ordinarily the most
far-sighted of their people in selecting a winter
camp, but this year the late fall had caught
them rather far east of the Missouri bottoms,
their favorite camping-ground. The upper
Jim River, called by the Sioux the River of
Gray Woods, was usually bare of large game
at that season.
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