It was obvious that the Indians were preparing for a great campaign, but that they would take their own time.

Most of the scouting was done by Henry and Sol, and several times they lay in the thick brushwood and watched, by the light of the fires, what was passing in the Indian camp.
On the fifth night after the rescue of Long Jim, Henry and Shif'less Sol lay in the covert.

It was nearly midnight, but the fires still burned in the Indian camp, warriors were polishing their weapons, and the women were cutting up or jerking meat.

While they were watching they heard from a point to the north the sound of a voice rising and failing in a kind of chant.
"Another war party comin'," whispered Shif'less Sol, "an' singin' about the victories that they're goin' to win." "But did you notice that voice ?" Henry whispered back.

"It's not a man's, it's a woman's." "Now that you speak of it, you're right," said Shif'less Sol.