And beyond we could see fifty or sixty saddle-horses grazing.

And a mile or so away, to the north, we saw a tiny cloud of dust approaching.

Jed and I waited until we saw a single man, riding fast, gallop into the camp of the whites.
When we got back into the corral the first thing that happened to me was a smack from mother for having stayed away so long; but father praised Jed and me when we gave our report.
"Watch for an attack now maybe, Captain," Aaron Cochrane said to father.
"That man the boys seen has rid in for a purpose.

The whites are holding the Indians till they get orders from higher up.

Maybe that man brung the orders one way or the other.