"Maybe he catch E-egante, maybe put him in skookum-house (prison)?" suggested Sarah. "Oh no! Lor'! E-egante good Injun. White Father he feed him. Give him heap clothes," said Mr. Long. "A--h!" drawled Sarah, dubiously, and rode by herself. "You'll need watchin'," muttered Jack Long. The trumpet sounded, the troopers swung into their saddles, and the line of march was taken up as before, Crook at the head of the column, his ragged fur collar turned up, his corduroys stuffed inside a wrinkled pair of boots, the shot-gun balanced across his saddle, and nothing to reveal that he was any one in particular, unless you saw his face. As the morning grew bright, and empty, silent Idaho glistened under the clear blue, the General talked a little to Captain Glynn. "E-egante will have crossed Snake River, I think," said he. "I shall try to do that to-day; but we must be easy on those horses of yours. We ought to be able to find these Indians in three days." "If I were a lusty young chief," said Glynn, "I should think it pretty tough to be put on a reservation for dipping a couple of kittens in the molasses." "So should I, captain. But next time he might dip Mrs. Dailey. And I'm not sure he didn't have a hand in more serious work. Didn't you run across his tracks anywhere this summer?" "No, sir. He was over on the Des Chutes." "Did you hear what he was doing?" "Having rows about fish and game with those Warm Spring Indians on the west side of the Des Chutes." "They're always poaching on each other. There's bad blood between E-egante and Uma-Pine." "Uma-Pine's friendly, sir, isn't he?" "Well, that's a question," said Crook. "But there's no question about this E-egante and his Pah-Utes. We've got to catch him. I'm sorry for him. He doesn't see why he shouldn't hunt anywhere as his fathers did. I shouldn't see that either." "How strong is this band reported, sir?" "I've heard nothing I can set reliance upon," said Crook, instinctively levelling his shot-gun at a big bird that rose; then he replaced the piece across his saddle and was silent. Now Captain Glynn had heard there were three hundred Indians with E-egante, which was a larger number than he had been in the habit of attacking with forty men. But he felt discreet about volunteering any information to the General after last night's exhibition of what the General knew. Crook partly answered what was in Glynn's mind. "This is the only available force I have," said he. "We must do what we can with it. You've found out by this time, captain, that rapidity in following Indians up often works well. They have made up their minds--that is, if I know them--that we're going to loaf inside Boise Barracks until the hard weather lets up." Captain Glynn had thought so too, but he did not mention this, and the General continued. "I find that most people entertained this notion," he said, "and I'm glad they did, for it will help my first operations very materially."