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When Buffalo Ran by George Bird Grinnell
page 43 of 78 (55%)
others. When I reached there, I found that they were building three war
lodges, and as I drew near, all the young men began to call out to me, each
one asking me to come over to him. I was the littlest fellow in the party,
and they all wanted me, thinking that I might bring them luck. When they
called to me, they did not speak to me by my name, but called me Bear
Chief, the name of one of the greatest warriors of the tribe. They were
joking with me, to tease me.

When I was near the lodges I stopped, uncertain what to do, or where to go,
and Gray Eyes, a man a little older than the others, walked up to me, and
took me by the arm, saying: "Friend, come to our lodge. If you go to one of
the others, the young men will be making fun of you all the time." I went
to his lodge, and he told me to sit down near the door. This lodge was well
built, warm and comfortable. They had taken many straight poles and set
them up as the poles of a lodge are set up, but much closer together. Then
the poles were covered with bark and brush, so as to keep out the wind; and
within, all about the lodge, were good beds, with bark and brush under
them, so as to keep those who were to sleep there from the snow. A good
fire burned in the middle of the lodge.

When I grew warm I began to wonder what we should have to eat. We had
traveled all day, and I was hungry; yet I had no food, and could see none,
and there was nothing to cook with, not even a kettle. A man sitting by the
fire seemed to know what was in my mind, and said to me, "Take courage,
friend, soon you shall have plenty to eat." A little while after this, a
man called out, saying, "If anyone has food to eat, let him get it out."
When he said that, the young men began to open their packs. While they were
doing this, someone cried, "The hunters are coming"; and when I looked I
saw three or four men coming, each with an antelope on his back. When these
men had come near to the camp, everyone rushed for them, and they threw
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