defend his people because he fears to kill, who could not bring venison
to renew the life of his sick father? With his prayers, let him drive
away the enemy! With his soft heart, let him keep off starvation! We
shall go elsewhere to dwell upon an untainted ground."

With this he disbanded the people. When the sun lowered in the west and
the winds were quiet, the village of cone-shaped tepees was gone. The
medicine-man had won the hearts of the people.

Only my father's dwelling was left to mark the fighting-ground.




IV.


From a long night at my father's bedside I came out to look upon the
morning. The yellow sun hung equally between the snow-covered land and
the cloudless blue sky. The light of the new day was cold. The strong
breath of winter crusted the snow and fitted crystal shells over the
rivers and lakes. As I stood in front of the tepee, thinking of the vast
prairies which separated us from our tribe, and wondering if the high
sky likewise separated the soft-hearted Son of God from us, the icy
blast from the North blew through my hair and skull. My neglected hair
had grown long and fell upon my neck.

My father had not risen from his bed since the day the medicine-man led
the people away. Though I read from the Bible and prayed beside him upon
my knees, my father would not listen. Yet I believed my prayers were not