On foot, Little Bear went forward slowly and carefully. Halfway from his horse to the top of the hill, he dropped to his hands and knees and crawled forward. Near the top of the hill he lay on his stomach and squirmed ahead. When he reached the top of the hill, he slowly raised his head and looked into the valley below him.
It was a much larger valley than any they had crossed that day. The hill on which he was lying sloped gently down to the valley floor. There were so many buffaloes in the valley that trying to count them would be like trying to count the sands on a river bank. Many of the buffaloes were grazing. A few young ones were scuffling. Not far from Little Bear an old bull buffalo was rolling on the ground. There were many buffalo cows with calves at their sides. Little Bear picked out one large, fat calf as the one he would shoot for their food.
He waited patiently for the signs Great Bear had told him the buffaloes would make when they caught the first faint trace of man scent. He saw a cow, far out in the valley, lift her head and sniff to the west. Another cow did the same. This was the sign they were catching a trace of Great Bear’s scent. Little Bear slid back a few paces, jumped up, and ran to his horse.
Little Bear’s horse pulled excitedly at its rope. Grandfather had used that horse as his buffalo-hunting horse before he gave it to Little Bear. It had caught the scent of buffalo and was as excited about taking part in the chase as Little Bear was. The moment Little Bear untied the horse and jumped on its back, it sped off like an arrow shot from a bow.
When horse and rider charged over the hill, the bull buffalo that had been rolling on the ground scrambled awkwardly to his feet. The buffaloes nearest Little Bear pushed forward. In a matter of moments the whole herd was running. The cows and calves moved to the front while the bulls ran clumsily at the rear of the herd.
Little Bear spied the calf he had selected. By the pressure of his knees against the horse’s side, he guided it towards the calf. Two bulls, running side by side, were in the way. The horse raced straight towards them. The bulls floundered aside and the horse sped between them.
Nearer and nearer to the calf the racing horse carried its rider. Little Bear fixed an arrow to his bow. As his horse brought him alongside of the calf, Little Bear let the arrow fly. It struck the calf in the foreleg, but the calf didn’t even waver in its stride. Little Bear fitted another arrow to his bow. He pressed his knees tightly against the horse’s side and leaned far over towards the calf. He took careful aim for the spot just back of the calf’s foreleg, as Great Bear had told him to do. He drew the bow string back with all of his strength and let the arrow fly. It flew straight to the mark. The calf lunged forward and fell to the ground.