THE SCALPED MAN MEDICINE. 391 
when they were ready to break camp and start on he was not able to go 
with them. Some of the men went out and killed a few buffalo, jerked 
the meat and made it into a bundle, which they placed at his head. 
Others brought water and fire sticks for him and did all that they could 
to make him comfortable, then they left him, promising to let his people 
know of his condition as soon as they could, so that they could come to 
his rescue. 
The war party had not been gone long when the wounded man 
heard many voices, and he became frightened for fear the enemy were 
upon him. Soon he heard some one laugh, and a voice that sounded so 
near that it was speaking in his ear said: ‘‘I just wanted to scare you. 
It was only I who made all of that noise.’? The man looked everywhere, 
but he could see no one. The next morning he saw some of his meat 
had been stolen during the night, and he thought that surely the enemy 
had followed him. When night came he again heard many strange 
voices, and the next morning he discovered that more of his meat was 
gone. He became very much frightened and cried aloud that whoever 
was stealing his meat should come and kill him, for he would rather be 
killed than starve to death. For reply he heard only some one laugh. 
For several evenings he continued to hear voices, now near, now far away, 
and each morning he discovered that more of his meat had been stolen. 
Finally his last piece of meat was stolen and again he called out for the 
person who took it to come and killhim. For reply he heard only some 
one laugh, and then suddenly Scalped-Man appeared before him and said, 
“If you will come to my home, I will heal your wounds and care for you.”’ 
The man was not afraid of Scalped-Man and said that he would go with 
him, for he knew that he would die if he stayed where he was. Scalped- 
Man took him upon his back and carried him to his home, which wasina 
big cave. 
There in the cave were heaps of wild sage spread upon the ground. 
Close to the fireplace was a buffalo skull with presents of blue beads, 
eagle feathers, black silk handkerchiefs, and wampum about it. Back of 
the skull was the pile of meat that the man had lost, and many other 
parfleches filled with dried meat. Many buffalo robes were scattered 
through the cave, and on one of them Scalped-Man placed the wounded 
man. He looked about for an opening, but could not see any, and he 
could not tell how they came in. 
Every day Scalped-Man would leave the cave and be gone for a long 
time. Before he returned, the wounded man would always hear many 
voices crying out, and giving war cries, and then all at once he would hear 
a laugh and then Scalped-Man would appear in the cave. He would tell 
