LIFE IN THE FAR WEST. 113 



Fortune favored the Crow. He won arrow after arrow from 

 tlie Burnt- wood brave ; then his bow, his club, his knife, his robe, 

 all followed, and the Sioux sat naked on the plain. Still he pro- 

 posed 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 exacted 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 appearance, 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, continued to the last drop of the 

 liquor-keg, when the reaction after such excitement was almost 

 worse than the evil itself. During this time, all the work de- 

 volved upon the squaws, who, in tending the horses, and in pack- 

 ing wood and water from a long distance, had their time sufficiently 

 occupied. As there was little or no grass in the vicinity, the ani- 

 mals were supported entirely on the bark of the cotton-wood ; and 



