CHAPTER II 



THE next morning Killbuck's leg was 

 greatly inflamed, and he was unable to 

 leave the lodge ; but he made his compan- 

 ion bring the old mule to the door, that he might 

 give her a couple of ears of Indian com, the last 

 remains of the slender store brought by the In- 

 dians from the Navajo country. The day passed, 

 and sundown brought no tidings of the war-party. 

 This caused no little wailing on the part of the 

 squaws, but was interpreted by the whites as a 

 favorable augury. A little after sunrise on the 

 second morning, the long line of the returning 

 warriors was discerned winding over the prairie, 

 and a scout having galloped in to bring the news 

 of a great victory, the whole village was soon in 

 a ferment of paint and drumming. A short dis- 

 tance from the lodges, the warriors halted to await 

 the approach of the people. Old men, children, 

 and squaws sitting astride their horses, sallied 

 out to escort the victorious party in triumph to 

 the village. With loud shouts and songs, and 

 drums beating the monotonous Indian time, they 

 advanced and encircled the returning braves, one 



of whom, his face covered with black paint, car- 



71 



