Oct., 1903. Arapaho Traditions — Dorsey and Kroeber. 99 



He, feeling her presence, uttered a grunt and said : 'You must think 

 I am in love with you.'" The wind, regardless of the remark, blew by 

 with greater speed and left behind her the poor man, still making his 

 way toward her path. Having walked some distance he became weary, 

 and planned to go just so far. He finally reached a nice quiet spot where 

 there was a level covered with soft buffalo grass. Here he lingered a 

 while before returning. 



As he started homeward Whirlwind came along much stronger. 

 When the man saw her coming he shouted to her, "Say, Woman, I 

 want to say a word to you." She hesitated a while and then ventured 

 towards him to comply with his request. On reaching him she said : 

 "What do you want?"' He answered with a proposal, saying, "Will 

 you consent to be my life companion?" She answered: "How can I 

 ever be, when I am always on the go? I refuse, because I am never 

 at one place for any length of time." The man answered with a smile : 

 "Oh, that matters not ; I am in the same position ; I travel all the time, 

 too." 'Well, that settles it all," said Whirlwind. 



She then turned and darted away from him like a flash of light- 

 ning. He continued to return by going up the river, from whence he 

 came. He had in his hand a small stem of blue grass, which he amused 

 himself with while walking. As he drew nearer the bank, the whirl- 

 wind was coming from the opposite direction. When Niha^qa'' reached 

 the bank Whirlwind came faster.. Seeing her, he raised his hands for her 

 to .stop. 



She did as she was told without questioning him. He stepped 

 forward with all his dignity and said, "Woman, will you kindly con- 

 sent to take me as your husband?" With a sneer, she replied: ''Bah, 

 I told you I could not be your wife; you know my reasons." At this 

 she blew forth with greater force than ever before. 



Poor Nih'a^ga", disheartened over the refusal made, made his soli- 

 tary way, barely noticing nature. He scarcely knew when he had 

 reached the divide. The noise of Whirlwind attracted his attention. 

 The poor man braced up and determined to make another attempt in 

 proposing. Just as he reached the divide, they met again, face to face, 

 as it were. The man shouted to her to stop. 



This time the whirlwind became out of patience with Nih'a°ga°'s 

 foolishness : however, she did not hesitate to see what he wanted. She 

 stopped, and walked forth to him, saying with an angry tone : "What 

 do you want?" He pitifully replied : "I must ask you again if you will 

 take me for your husband ? You are so very fascinating to me." With 

 a voice that did not quiver, she replied: "No! I have told you that it 



