Page:Life Among the Piutes.djvu/163

 Oh, such a sight my eyes met! It was a beautiful sight. About three hundred and twenty-seven lodges, and about four hundred and fifty warriors were down Little Valley catching horses, and some more were killing beef. The place looked as if it was all alive with hostile Bannocks. I began to feel a little afraid. I looked down upon them, and I said,—

“Brother, is our father’s lodge inside the line? We must leave our horses here and go on foot. I can run down the mountain very fast.”

Brother said, “If you are discovered, how will you get out?”

“Oh, well, our horses are almost given out anyway; so, dear brother, we must trust to good luck, and it is not so very far. Let us go quick and be back, for I have no time to lose.”

So we ran all the way down the mountain. Before I went into my father’s lodge, I sent brother in to tell him I was coming. He did so, and I heard him whistle, and I then said to the men, “We will go in.” Oh, how glad my father was to see me! He took me in his arms and said,—

“Oh, my dear little girl, and what is it? Have you come to save me yet? My little child is in great danger. Oh, our Great Father in the Spirit-land, look down on us and save us!” This was repeated by every one in the tent.

Every one in the lodge whispered, “Oh, Sadie, you have come to save us!”

I said, “Yes, I have come to save you all if you will do as I wish you to and be quiet about it. Whisper it among yourselves. Get ready to-night, for there is no time to lose, for the soldiers are close by. I have come from them with this word: ‘Leave the hostile Bannocks and come to the troops. You shall be properly fed by the troops.’ Are you all here? I mean all the Malheur Reservation Indians.”