hungry, and I became a thief, I took away a large piece, and ran away
like a cowardly wolf. I have said: the prize cannot be mine."

A murmur ran through the assembly, and the chiefs, holy men, and elders
consulted together. At last, the ancient chief advanced once more
towards the young man, and took his two hands between his own. "My son,"
he said, "good, noble, and brave; thy acknowledgment of thy fault and
self-denial in such a moment make thee as pure as a good spirit in the
eyes-of the great Manitou. Evil, when confessed and repented of, is
forgotten; bend thy head, my son, and let me crown thee. The premium is
twice deserved and twice due."

A Shoshone warrior possessed a beautiful mare; no horse in the prairie
could outspeed her, and in the buffalo or bear hunt she would enjoy the
sport as much as her master, and run alongside the huge beast with great
courage and spirit. Many propositions were made to the warrior to sell
or exchange the animal, but he would not hear of it. The dumb brute was
his friend, his sole companion; they had both shared the dangers of
battle and the privations of prairie travelling; why should he part with
her? The fame of that mare extended so far, that in a trip he made to
San Francisco, several Mexicans offered him large sums of money;
nothing, however, could shake him in his resolution. In those countries,
though horses will often be purchased at the low price of one dollar, it
often happens that a steed, well known as a good hunter or a rapid
pacer, will bring sums equal to those paid in England for a fine
racehorse.

One of the Mexicans, a wild young man, resolved to obtain the mare,
whether or no. One evening, when the Indian was returning from some
neighbouring plantation, the Mexican laid down in some bushes at a short