WAGERING TRIBES ON A GAME. 303 
“You may gamble and win them back if you can. You are free to do 
that, but you cannot carry them away by force or fraud.” 
So they sat down together in the assembly-house, Oankoitupeh and 
Haikutwotopeh, to gamble for the lost tribe. First, Oankoitupeh staked 
his grandfather and Piuchunnuh against the tribe. They played a quick 
game, and Oankoitupeh lost. Then he had only his mother left, and he 
staked her. Oankoitupeh lost one counter after another, until all the six- 
teen were gone but one. The fate of his mother and of her tribe hung on 
that one counter. Haikutwotopeh became bold; he played recklessly. At 
this moment Oankoitupeh asserted his secret power. He stopped the hole 
through his opponent’s arm and body, and opened one in his own. He 
now won back piece after piece; he gained the whole sixteen. The game 
was won; his mother was saved, and the whole tribe redeemed. They 
came over to their rescuer with shouts of great joy; they were as numer- 
ous as the trees of the thick forest. 
So they came out of the icy assembly-house, and the friends of Oan- 
koitupeh rejoiced over his splendid victory. Then Oankoitupeh proposed 
a second game, and offered to bet his tribe against Haikutwotopeh’s own 
tribe. He said to him, ‘ You gambled with my grandfather in other days, 
and won his whole tribe. You ought to have been satisfied to bet bows, 
arrows, money, etc., but you would bet only men and women. You might 
as well have bet the earth itself, the rivers, the mountains, the rocks; only 
you could not have carried these away if you had won them. I will not 
gamble with you for your lands and your rivers, but only for your people.” 
They sat down in the assembly-house again and played, and Oankoi- 
tupeh won. Even before the game was ended, the tribe of Haikutwotopeh 
were. eager to go over to Oankoitupeh, but he said to them, ‘No; you 
must wait; my people did not wish to come over before they were won”. — 
Then they all set out together for the far distant Ushtupeddi. But 
long before they arrived, the old woman who was left behind knew that 
Oankoitupeh was alive and had gained the victory. There was a quail’s- 
head plume in her house, and she saw it waver and flutter; also, when she 
went out-doors, she saw the grass and flowers in a gentle tremor. If he 
