Oct., 1903. Arapaho Traditions — Dorsey and Kroeber. 217 



ihey?" said the little boy. " Sliut .up, brother ! I told you to take 

 them to the river and drown tHem !" said the sister. "Dear, don't talk 

 that way tc your little brother, he is young- yet and does not know what 

 it is to get a scolding," said the mother. "Well, I want these taken to 

 the river at once. I cannot have them for children j" said the sister. 

 "All right, here we go ! My ! but they are cute little nephews !'' said the 

 brother as fie stepped out of the tipi. After the boy had gone, there 

 was deep silence in the family for fear of the daughter's temper. 



As the little boy was carrying the I'cose bag of seven nephews 

 tothe river to drown them, a thought came into his mind. "I cannot do 

 this, for they are lovely and jolly little ones. What I may do for their 

 benefit my sister will not know, so I shall Icok after them for a while," 

 said the boy, walking toward the river. As he walked, he would turn 

 around to see if any one was watching, till at last he stopped at an old 

 Cottonwood tree, which was leaning close to the ground. It was a dead 

 tree. This little boy placed his burden down for a while, and began 

 taking the bark from the leaning tree, until he had enough. With 

 these strips of bark, he built a small shelter, and lined it with soft grass. 

 This shelter had thick layers of bark, which made it quite warm and 

 safe. Looking around and seeing nobody in sight, he then placed 

 these puppies inside. They seemed to be contented and cried a little, 

 but their tiny voices could not be heard at a distance. The little boy 

 returned home with joyful feeling. 



"Say, mother, I wish you would give me a bigger piece of meat, 

 for I am going cut to play for some time," said the little boy. "Poor 

 little boy ! He gets very hungry sometimes. Here is a nice juicy piece. 

 Take it, and now, dear, you must not be naughty with your comrades, 

 and come heme early," said the mother. "Oh, yes, mother, you know 

 very well that I am always on time, for meals, and father knows it too," 

 said the little boy. So the little boy went out, chewing the food. "Well, 

 my partners have not yet gotten up Maybe they have already gone to 

 the river to play on the sand-bar, so I guess I had better go there." 

 said the little boy. This little boy was humming and blowing h's nose, 

 to prevent his parents from objecting to his desire to play away from 

 home. This little boy, thankful as he was, reached the shelter and 

 found the puppies all right. They Had all just received their sight, 

 and were crawling over each other. "Well, dear little nephews, you 

 are all so pretty and active. I want to play with you this morning, 

 and I shall be the leader. Here is a nice juicy piece of meat which T 

 brought over for you. I wish you would all take a turn and suck it 

 good. That is the best that I can do for you," said the little boy. The 



