The dancing continued until late, again. Peter curled in the bows of the waiting pirogue, and went to sleep. He had done his duty and could trust to John Ordway. By the stars it was midnight when he awakened at the approach of the captains. They and two Indian guests and the guard clambered in, and the pirogue was rowed for the barge. The shore was silent and dark――but how alert were those Sioux! The pirogue ran against the anchor cable of the barge, in the darkness, and broke it. The barge was adrift. The captains cried loudly, ordering the oars to be manned and the barge held until a cable could be passed ashore――and instantly the two Indians in the pirogue shouted excitedly, in the Sioux tongue, summoning the village. “Here! Quick!” they called. “To the boats! Come!” The whole village burst into an uproar; the warriors poured forth to the water’s edge. It was very plain that they feared the white men were leaving. The captains could pay little attention until a cable had been carried from the barge and fastened to a tree on the bank, and the barge pulled in out of the current. Then―――― “Ask Tor-to-hon-ga what’s the meaning of all this alarm,” bade Captain Lewis, tersely, of Drouillard. Tor-to-hon-ga was one of the two guests. “He say de Tetons ’fraid de ’Maha warriors haf come up an’ attack de boats of de great white father,” interpreted Drouillard. “Nonsense!” muttered Captain Lewis. And anybody might see how foolish was this excuse of the Tetons: that the Omahas would attack boats defended by guns, when the Sioux were the real enemies. After the village was quiet again, at least sixty Teton warriors remained there on the bank, all night, ready for action. “I t’ink,” commented Drouillard, “mebbe we have leetle trouble, in mornin’.” “We’re in a bad box,” quoth Sergeant Ordway. “Now we’re tied up close to the bank, under direct fire. We may have a hard time casting off.” Strong guards were kept under arms, on all the boats. There was little sleep. Both captains were constantly about, peering through the darkness, and listening. Early in the morning the Tetons were assembled; and while Patrick Gass and a detail were dragging from a pirogue, trying to find the barge’s anchor, several chiefs and warriors waded out to the barge and climbed aboard. The anchor could not be found. “Never mind,” said Captain Lewis. “We’ll go on without it. Send those fellows ashore, Will. Sergeant Pryor, take a squad with you and cast off that rope.” The Indian visitors did not wish to go ashore, but Captain Clark ordered them pushed into the pirogue which was to bear Sergeant Pryor and squad. Chief Black Buffalo still refused to go. Sergeant Pryor released the rope from the tree on the bank and returned. The sail on the barge was being hoisted――and at the instant laughter and shouts mingled, both ashore and from the boats. A number of the Sioux had sat upon the rope, holding it! Captain Lewis flared into hot rage.