94 LIFE IN THE FAR WEST. 



from the Burnt-wood brave; then Ms bow, his club, his 

 knife, his robe, all followed, and the Sioux sat naked on 

 the plain. Still he proposed another stake against the 

 other's winnings his scalp. He played and lost; and 

 bending forward his head, the Crow warrior drew his 

 knife and quickly removed the bleeding prize. Without 

 a murmur the luckless Sioux rose to depart, but first ex- 

 acted a promise from his antagonist that he would meet 

 him once more at the same spot, and engage in another 

 trial of skill. 



On the day appointed, the Burnt-wood sought the spot, 

 with a new equipment, and again the Crow made his ap- 

 pearance, and they sat down to play. This time fortune 

 changed sides ; the Sioux won back his former losses, and 

 in his turn the Crow was stripped to his skin. 



Scalp against scalp was now the stake, and this time 

 the Crow submitted his head to the victorious Burnt- 

 wood's knife; and both the warriors stood scalpless on 

 the plain. 



And now the Crow had but one single stake of value to 

 offer, and the offer of it he did not hesitate to make. He 

 staked his life against the other's winnings. They played ; 

 and fortune still being adverse, he lost. He offered his 

 breast to his adversary. The Burnt-wood plunged his knife 

 into his heart to the very hilt ; and, laden with his spoils, 

 returned to his village, and to this day wears suspended 

 from his ears his own and enemy's scalp. : ; 



The village presented the usual scene of confusion as 

 long as the trade lasted. Fighting, brawling, yelling, 

 dancing, and all the concomitants of intoxication, con- 

 tinued to the last drop of the liquor -keg, when the re- 

 action after such excitement was almost worse than the 

 evil itself. During this time all the work devolved upon 

 the squaws, who, in tending the horses, and in packing 

 wood and water from a long distance, had their time suffi- 

 ciently occupied. As there was little or no grass in the 

 vicinity, the animals were supported entirely on the bark 

 of the cotton-wood ; and to procure this, the women were 

 daily engaged in felling huge trees, or climbing them 



