Two or three hundred yards from the place where the Indians halted, Auberry told Belknap to halt his men.

We four, with one private to hold our horses, rode forward a hundred yards farther, halted and raised our hands in sign of peace.
There rode out to us four of the head men of the Sioux, beautifully dressed, each a stalwart man.

We dismounted, laid down our weapons on the ground, and approached each other.
"Watch them close, boys," whispered Auberry.

"They've got plenty of irons around them somewhere, and plenty of scalps, too, maybe." "Talk to them, Auberry," said Belknap; and as the former was the only one of us who understood the Sioux tongue, he acted as interpreter.
"What are the Sioux doing so far east ?" he asked of their spokesman, sternly.
"Hunting," answered the Sioux, as Auberry informed us.

"The white soldiers drive away our buffalo.