226 



to Nimrod, providing he was to be 

 favoured twenty-three! poor Nim- 

 rod ! I had not even the satisfaction 

 of offering him some antiseptic lip 

 salve, by chance in my pocket, as 

 the silence was so obvious, I had not 

 the courage to break it. As the 

 twelfth brave sat down Plenty Coups 

 indicated that he thought it was pro- 

 per for the distinguished paleface and 

 his squaw to join the ceremony. 

 So the evil-smelling thing came our 

 way and Nimrod arose and did his 

 duty. 



I was in a quandary. It was con- 

 trary to all custom and a very great 

 honour to include me, but the Chief 

 surely had made the sign of long hair, 

 which means squaw. Still when Nim- 

 rod proffered the pipe I hesitated, 

 but Plenty Coups left no room for 

 doubt. ' ' The Great Spirit will accept 

 greeting from the paleface squaw." 



That pipe was the nastiest tasting 

 and smelling thing that ever got into 

 an unwilling mouth. The tobacco 

 was rank, the mouthpiece, of course, 

 had done yeoman service. I man- 

 aged to salute the East why were 

 there so many points to the compass ? 



