In the mean time the Teton warriors had not been idle. Profiting by
the high fog which grew in the bottoms, they had wormed their way
through the matted grass, like so many treacherous serpents stealing
on their prey, until the point was gained, where an extraordinary
caution became necessary to their further advance. Mahtoree, alone,
had occasionally elevated his dark, grim countenance above the
herbage, straining his eye-balls to penetrate the gloom which skirted
the border of the brake. In these momentary glances he gained
sufficient knowledge, added to that he had obtained in his former
search, to be the perfect master of the position of his intended
victims, though he was still profoundly ignorant of their numbers, and
of their means of defence.
His efforts to possess himself of the requisite knowledge concerning
these two latter and essential points were, however, completely
baffled by the stillness of the camp, which lay in a quiet as deep as
if it were literally a place of the dead. Too wary and distrustful to
rely, in circumstances of so much doubt, on the discretion of any less
firm and crafty than himself, the Dahcotah bade his companions remain
where they lay, and pursued the adventure alone.
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