1O!IO 
_ 
FOKEST AND STREAM. 


[Dec. 28, 1907. 



all ills. But neither their prayers nor their bitter 
drinks did me any good. I lost my desire for 
food. I became weaker and weaker. I hated 
to die. I was still young; my women loved me. 
I loved them. I wanted to live and be happy 
with them, but most I wanted to live because 
some evil one so desired my death. 
“One day there came some visitors from the 
North Blackfeet camp, and I gave them a feast. 
They remarked upon my thinness and ill health, 
and I told how I was afflicted. ‘Why,’ said one, 
‘there is a way by which you can recover. Our 
people have a sacred pipe which always cures 
It is now owned by Three 
Go you at once and get it; the value of 
it 1s great; no less than fifty horses, but what 
are horses compared to health?’ 
“Instantly I determined that I would have the 
pipe, but outwardly I made excuses. Said that 
I was too ill to travel; that I had tried every- 
thing, and had concluded that there was no cure 
for my trouble. 
this kind of sickness. 
Suns. 
I had made my plans even be- 
The very next night Red Plume 
carried out such things as were needed for the 
journey. 
fore I spoke. 
Saddles, robes, a couple of parfleches 
and cached them in a 
from camp. The next 
night he had two of my best horses there, and 
when the fires had gone out and the people slept, 
Si’-pi-ah-ki and I stole out to the place, and 
were soon mounted and heading for the moun- 
filled with various foods, 
coulée some distance 
tain trail leading to the north. My other women 
were to live in Two Plume’s lodge during my 
absence. Of excited as we 
started out, and I felt quite strong; but long, 
very long before daylight, I became weak and 
By this time we had got to the foothills, 
the children of the big mountains, 
course we were 
dizzy. 
and riding 
to the top of one we dismounted to rest, secur- 
ing our horses in a little pine grove on its side, 
ourselves in the tall bunch 
placed the robes for me, 
covered me from the dew, and I slept, she her- 
self taking my gun and sitting by my side, watch- 
ing, listening, for any danger. 
concealing green 
grass. My woman 
“I was awakened by the sun shining in my 
face. Si’-pi-ah-ki bent over me with that patient, 
mother-like smile ] had always loved to see, and 
that failed “Why yes,’ I an- 
swered her question, ‘I feel much better. I will 
be able to ride a long ways to-day, but first we 
are going to eat, then you will sleep while I 
keep watch.’ 
never to cheer, 
“She descended the hill to the creek, and came 
with a bucket of water and we had our 
morning ‘meal. I had kept watch for some time 
out on the 
plains, in the very direction we had come. JI 
back 
when I saw a lone horseman far 
thought at first that he was hunting; someone 
from our camp in quest of meat. But no, there 
were buffalo in sight not far to the north of him 
and he did not turn toward them, Instead he 
came steadily on, right on our trail, plain to 
be seen in the green grass of early summer. I 
awakened my “lhete jhe ais.) 1 said) 
pointing. At last the day 
has come when we shall see his face, when either 
he or I will die. I am glad.’ 
“He was still far out on the plain. ‘When he 
comes near,’ I said, ‘I will steal down to the 
brush there, where we crossed the little creek, 
and as he rides down the bank into it I’ll shoot 
him from his horse.’ 
““Yes,’ my brave woman agreed, ‘and I'll hide 
«4 the other side with a big club, and this knife 
woman. 
“There is our enemy. 

of mine. He won’t think of anyone there, and 
if you should miss him, why, I can do some- 
thing I hope. But you will not miss, such a 
good shot as you are. He will just tumble off 
his horse into the water. And if we cannot kill 
him, if he should kill you, then, my husband, 
our shadows will go together to the sandhills, 
for I will kill myself. 
“I noticed that our pursuer often stopped and 
turned his horse and looked back, and all around, 
and then he would start on again swiftly. ‘He 
is afraid of being seen on our trail,’ I said. ‘I 
hope that nothing will prevent him from coming 
on.’ 
“But there did, and it was a great disappoint- 
ment. Some riders appeared off to the south of 
him, and he turned at once and disappeared in 
a big coulée which ran down into the Two Medi- 
cine River. We saw no more of him for some 
time, and then, away further down, we saw him 
leave the valley and strike across the plains to- 
ward Badger Creek. There was no use of our 
remaining on the hill any longer. We mounted 
and continued our journey. 
“In good time we came to the Blackfeet camp, 
and to Three Suns’ lodge. The old man received 
us kindly, and when I told him why I had come 
he gave me the sacred pipe without hesitating 
at all, agreeing to send his son and another young 
man back with us to receive the fifty horses I 
gave him. We stayed there some time, he pray- 
ing for me and teaching me the ceremonies of 
the pipe, until I knew them well. Then we re- 
turned home and met with no incident by the 
way worth telling. I had steadily grown stronger. 
Little by little my sick spells wore away until 
I felt as I do now, perfectly well and strong. 
Also, I now had good, instead of bad dreams, 
one especially quite often. ‘You shall survive 
the attempts on your life,’ my secret helper told 
“You shall outlive your enemy.’ 
“This gave me courage, a strong heart, and 
I went oftener out on the hunt, and to just ride 
around. Never carelessly though, never alone. 
For was not troubled, as I 
learned, just because I was so watchful. The 
very first time I did take chances this happened: 
We were nearly out of meat, both lodges of us, 
so Red Plume and I went out after some. It 
was a cloudy spring day, warm, still, but the 
clouds were above the mountain tops, and we 
decided that rain would not fall, not until night 
at least. We had been encamped a long time 
at that place down on the Bear (Marias) River 
in the Medicine Rock bottom, and game had 
moved out some distance from the valley, scared 
away by the hunters. We rode away southward 
up the Dry Fork, and it was nearly midday be- 
fore we sighted game, several bunches of ante- 
lope, then a fair-sized herd of buffalo. These 
last were feeding on the south side and on top 
of that long flat butte, the one rock walled at 
its eastern end. 
its north side, then climbed it, and found our- 
selves right the animals. We chased 
them across the flat top of the butte, killing only 
one cow, Red Plume only wounding the one 
he fired at. That wasn’t enough meat, and we 
loped our horses on down the steep and rocky 
slope. There the buffalo had the advantage of 
us of course, as they could descend a hill more 
than twice as fast as the best horse could. Down 
on the flat it would be different; there we could 
regain lost ground and complete our kill. But 
I never got there. My horse fell and sent me 
me. 
three winters I 
among 
We rode up a deep coulée on 




rolling until I brought up against a boulder. I 
wasn’t hurt, only scratched in places, nor did 
the fall break my gun. But it was different with 
the horse. One of his fore legs was broken, and 
the ball that was intended to bring down meat 
sent his shadow to the sand hills. Red Plume 
was lucky. Down on the level he killed three 
fine young bulls. He is a fine shot-on horse- 
back and a very quick reloader. The three ani- 
mals lay within the length of a hundred steps. 
He felt as badly as I did over the loss of my 
horse. It was one of my best runners, and he 
often rode it himself. ‘Well,’ he said, ‘what is 
dead stays dead. We cannot help it, so let us 
determine what is best to do now. I think that 
we had better skin our kill, cut up the meat, and 
then, taking just the tongues and a few ribs, ride 
home double on my horse. I’ll come back to- 
morrow with some of the women after the skins 
and everything.’ 
““T don’t like to ride double, I told him. ‘I 
never did, even when I was a boy, if you re- 
member. It is still a long time until dark, so 
just ride in to camp and lead out a horse for 
me, while I. stay here and do the skinning and 
meat cutting,’ 
“He objected. ‘Not that I mind the ride,’ he 
said. ‘Think of yourself, that enemy of yours 
may be even now somewhere out this way watch-| 
ing us.’ 
“We argued the matter for some time, but I 
had my way. Not long after Red Plume left | 
the wind began to blow and then it began to| 
rain. I kept on with my work, however, and | 
skinned and cut up the animals. By that time 
I was very wet. I covered the meat with three | 
of the skins and then crouched down under the 
other one, but I could not keep warm, and I was 
very uncomfortable. Finally, I could not stand 
it any longer, and throwing off the cover I arose 
and started homeward. The rain was falling 
harder than ever, the wind blowing more fiercely. 
I was nearly blinded by the water, but splashed 
on faster than ever, expecting to meet Red Plume 
about half way out, and go on in to the cheer- 
ful fire awaiting me just as fast as I could make 
my horse travel. 
“The trail on the Dry Fork is pretty straight, 
cutting the bends of the valley. Sometimes it runs | 
beside the stream and again up and across a 
point. All at once I began to be afraid. ‘This 
is a good place for that enemy of mine to way- 
lay me,’ I thought, trying hard to keep the water 
out of my eyes, and scan every place ahead. I 
know now that my secret helper was trying to 
warn me of danger, but I could not quite be-| 
lieve it. ‘In such a storm as this,’ I tried to 
make myself believe, ‘he would not be out, and 
anyway if he were he could not know that I'| 
am hurrying home afoot over this trail.’ Well, 
for all my arguments I couldn’t feel easy, and 
so, when a gun in some bushes off to the left | 
of the trail banged, and flashed red, and I felt 
a bullet tear through my thigh, I wasn’t a bit 
surprised. There was a smail thicket right there 
on the right of the trail, and I tumbled into it 
purposely. The shot had not knocked me over, 
but I acted as if it had, hoping that this man, 
who wanted to kill me, would show himself ana 
give me a chance to kill him. I no sooner fell 
into the bushes than I straightened up and looked 
out through the screen of thick leaves. I looked 
and looked. No one appeared. I heard no 
sound but the wind and the pattering rain, and 
the rush of the rising stream. My wound began 











































































































































