Part 6 (2/2)
That is, he had good thoughts; and of course they made him happy.
Finally he felt tired and sat down to rest on a big, round stone--the kind of stone our white friend there calls a bowlder. Here he rested for a while, but the stone was cold, and he felt it through his robe; so he said:
”'Stone, you seem cold to-day. You may have my robe. I have hundreds of robes in my camp, and I don't need this one at all.' That was a lie he told about having so many robes. All he had was the one he wore.
”He spread his robe over the stone, and then started down the hill, naked, for it was really a fine day. But storms hide in the mountains, and are never far away when it is springtime. Soon it began to snow--then the wind blew from the north with a good strength behind it.
OLD-man said:
”'Well, I guess I do need that robe myself, after all. That stone never did anything for me anyhow. n.o.body is ever good to a stone.
I'll just go back and get my robe.'
”Back he went and found the stone. Then he pulled the robe away, and wrapped it about himself. Ho! but that made the stone angry--Ho!
OLD-man started to run down the hill, and the stone ran after him. Ho!
it was a funny race they made, over the gra.s.s, over smaller stones, and over logs that lay in the way, but OLD-man managed to keep ahead until he stubbed his toe on a big sage-brush, and fell--swow!
”'Now I have you!' cried the stone--'now I'll kill you, too! Now I will teach you to give presents and then take them away,' and the stone rolled right on top of OLD-man, and sat on his back.
”It was a big stone, you see, and OLD-man couldn't move it at all. He tried to throw off the stone but failed. He squirmed and twisted--no use--the stone held him fast. He called the stone some names that are not good; but that never helps any. At last he began to call:
”'Help!--Help!--Help!' but n.o.body heard him except the Night-hawk, and he told the OLD-man that he would help him all he could; so he flew away up in the air--so far that he looked like a black speck. Then he came down straight and struck that rock an awful blow--'swow!'--and broke it in two pieces. Indeed he did. The blow was so great that it spoiled the Night-hawk's bill, forever--made it queer in shape, and jammed his head, so that it is queer, too. But he broke the rock, and OLD-man stood upon his feet.
”'Thank you, Brother Night-hawk,' said OLD-man, 'now I will do something for you. I am going to make you different from other birds--make you so people will always notice you.'
”You know that when you break a rock the powdered stone is white, like snow; and there is always some of the white powder whenever you break a rock, by pounding it. Well, Old-man took some of the fine powdered stone and shook it on the Night-hawk's wings in spots and stripes--made the great white stripes you have seen on his wings, and told him that no other bird could have such marks on his clothes.
”All the Night-hawk's children dress the same way now; and they always will as long as there are Night-hawks. Of course their clothes make them proud; and that is why they keep at flying over people's heads--soaring and dipping and turning all the time, to show off their pretty wings.
”That is all for to-night. Muskrat, tell your father I would run Buffalo with him tomorrow--Ho!”
WHY THE MOUNTAIN-LION IS LONG AND LEAN
Have you ever seen the plains in the morning--a June morning, when the spurred lark soars and sings--when the plover calls, and the curlew pipes his shriller notes to the rising sun? Then is there music, indeed, for no bird outsings the spurred lark; and thanks to OLD-man he is not wanting in numbers, either. The plains are wonderful then--more wonderful than they are at this season of the year; but at all times they beckon and hold one as in a spell, especially when they are backed or bordered by a snow-capped mountain range. Looking toward the east they are boundless, but on their western edge superb mountains rear themselves.
All over this vast country the Indians roamed, following the great buffalo herds as did the wolves, and making their living with the bow and lance, since the horse came to them. In the very old days the ”piskun” was used, and buffalo were enticed to follow a fantastically dressed man toward a cliff, far enough to get the herd moving in that direction, when the ”buffalo-man” gained cover, and hidden Indians raised from their hiding places behind the animals, and drove them over the cliff, where they were killed in large numbers.
Not until Cortez came with his cavalry from Spain, were there horses on this continent, and then generations pa.s.sed ere the plains tribes possessed this valuable animal, that so materially changed their lives.
Dogs dragged the Indian's travois or packed his household goods in the days before the horse came, and for hundreds--perhaps thousands of years, these people had no other means of transporting their goods and chattels. As the Indian is slow to forget or change the ways of his father, we should pause before we brand him as wholly improvident, I think.
He has always been a family-man, has the Indian, and small children had to be carried, as well as his camp equipage. Wolf-dogs had to be fed, too, in some way, thus adding to his burden; for it took a great many to make it possible for him to travel at all.
When the night came and we visited War Eagle, we found he had other company--so we waited until their visit was ended before settling ourselves to hear the story that he might tell us.
”The Crows have stolen some of our best horses,” said War Eagle, as soon as the other guests had gone. ”That is all right--we shall get them back, and more, too. The Crows have only borrowed those horses and will pay for their use with others of their own. To-night I shall tell you why the Mountain lion is so long and thin and why he wears hair that looks singed. I shall also tell you why that person's nose is black, because it is part of the story.
”A long time ago the Mountain-lion was a short, thick-set person. I am sure you didn't guess that. He was always a great thief like OLD-man, but once he went too far, as you shall see.
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