"Le's see, you want twice twenty-four--that's forty-eight feathers."

"No," said Yan, "that's a poor feathering, two on each. We want three
on each arrow--seventy-two strips in all, and mind you, we want all
three that are on one arrow from the same side of the bird."

"I know. I'll bet it's bad luck to mix sides; arrows doesn't know
which way to turn."

At this moment Si Lee came in. "How are ye gettin' on with the bows?"

"Waitin' for arrows now."

"How do ye put on the feathers?"

DESCRIPTION OF SIX SAMPLE ARROWS SHOWING DIFFERENT FEATHERS

_A_ is a far-flying steel-pointed bobtail, very good in wind.
_B_ is another very good arrow, with a horn point. This went
even better than _A_ if there were no wind. _C_ is an
Omaha war and deer arrow. Both heads and feathers are lashed on
with sinew. The long tufts of down left on the feathers are to
help in finding it again, as they are snow-white and wave in the
breeze. The grooves on the shaft are to make the victim bleed more
freely and be more easily tracked. _D_ is another Omaha
arrow with a peculiar owner's mark of lines carved in the middle,
_E_ is a bone-headed bird shaft made by the Indians of the
Mackenzie River. _F_ is a war arrow made by Geronimo, the
famous Apache chief. Its shaft is three joints of a straight cane.
The tip is of hard wood, and on that is a fine quartz point; all