“But there was a greater surprise even than this one in store for Scared Coyote. By a wonderful happening, the Cave Dwellers decided to make their attack on us the very same night that we rode away, although when I heard them talking around their fire they were going to postpone it till the following night, in the hope that some of their tribe would join them. “They had moved down upon our camp in the night at the same time we were moving off in another direction; and when Scared Coyote awoke he found himself surrounded by the dreaded savages. “One of the Cave Dwellers, whom we took prisoner afterward by a daring feat, of which I shall tell you, informed us that Scared Coyote swooned away like a woman when he saw them. “How we laughed when we heard of the traitor’s death--for was he not a traitor to skulk in his wigwam with the women instead of looking after the welfare of his tribe?” Red Cloud looked at Buffalo Bill inquiringly. “Yes, he was certainly a skulker and a traitor,” the border king agreed. “I do not know that you did right to leave him, but I can understand how enraged you and your fellow braves must have been.” “The Cave Dwellers, in overwhelming numbers, moved after us, and we were obliged to move farther away,” continued Red Cloud. “At last the braves who had been out hunting joined us, and then our enemies retreated and camped near the Giant Spring.” “But you have not told me what happened to Scared Coyote,” remarked Buffalo Bill, interrupting the story. “Oh, they threw him into the Giant Spring, with his paints tied around his neck, for he behaved in so womanly a manner that they got a greater contempt for him than we had, and they would not give him a warrior’s death. “Though we had abandoned the place which had for so long been our headquarters, we had no idea of giving up the struggle,” Red Cloud continued. “We knew that the Cave Dwellers still greatly outnumbered us, but we nevertheless meant to attack them. At a grand council of war I was chosen chief, in place of Scared Coyote; for, although I was such a young man, I had distinguished myself by saving the tribe from certain annihilation. “I thought long and hard what I should do, and presently I hit upon a good plan, although it was one fraught with great danger. “Five hundred yards above the Giant Spring, on the north, there is a great hole covered over with brushwood and prairie grass. A narrow furrow in the ground, also covered by grass and brush, leads to this hole, the furrow extending along the prairie for nearly a mile. “I thought that we would creep along this furrow and hide in the hole, and then surprise the hostile tribe when they struck their camp and marched northward, as I would contrive they should do by sending some of my men to make a feint of attacking them from that direction.