“No problem a-tall,” Hawk replied. “I’ve got a little bit of food with me. We’ll just cook that up. I expect my horse will be glad to get rid of it.” He untied the bundle of smoked venison Rascal had been carrying and set it on the ground. It caused a wave of excitement to rise among the small gathering of people when he spread the hide out to reveal a still sizable pile of smoked meat. He realized the people were on the verge of starvation as they hurried to prepare the meat. It caused him to make another time-consuming delay in his anxious pursuit of Booth and his partner. He looked at Swift Runner, still holding the rifle as if it were a living thing. “Why don’t you and I head out in the mornin’? I think I know where we can find some deer.” He was thinking about the herd of deer the cavalry patrol had frightened near Hound Creek between this chain of mountains and the Little Belt Mountains. “The place I’m thinkin’ about is less than a half day from here, and you can get a chance to see how that rifle shoots without wastin’ a lot of cartridges.” His announcement was too much for them all to contain and a happy cheer resulted, bringing the women tending Black Elk’s wound out of the tipi to see the cause.

It was impossible for Hawk not to share their joy as every one of the Indians gathered around him stepped up to touch his arm or shoulder, nod happily to him with most repeating the one word, “Hawk.” Black Elk’s wife left her husband’s side to express her thanks for bringing her husband and her son back to her. She introduced herself as Walks Along. Before it was over, Hawk had contributed almost all the supplies he had with him and apologized for not having more. He donated flour, salt, and coffee, keeping only enough strips of jerky to keep him alive until he got to Helena, or some trading post along the way. When he asked if there was a trading post closer to them, he was told there was only one, Bodine’s. Wounded Bear said that the man, Bodine, was not very friendly to his people, even when they had money or hides to trade. Hawk didn’t tell them of his experiences with Bodine.