The Forrest City times., 1895-05-24
eye of lynx, and the foot of . gray

| White Bull, wisest of the Shoshones, alone knows the secret of the tomdno- 'Dos He can take the young warriors to the spot, but they have not the cour- age to follow. When they go to wrench the secret from the bowels of the earth, their blood becomes like water. Hast thou nerve of iron? Wilt thou fol- low the White Bull into the country of the fire arrows-into the land of the Fire Spirit?"
 ITO any spot thou namest." Then meet the White Bull at the foot of the thunder-rock at sunrise. He | will lead thee into the land of the Fire Spirit and show thee the secret of the tom0n0,oos."
 An hour later Whirlwind, lying se- creted at the feet of the dead war chief, became aware that White Bull was beckoning him apart for a confer ence. By sunrise he knew that the medicine man had set out for the land of the Fire Spirit with Washable, his rival, in search of the secret tomanopOs, and that upon the skill with which he followed upon their trail, without being seen, depended his accession to the dignity of war chief He must keep the trail of Washable like his shadow, yet be as invisible as spirit. A rumor reached the tribe that the trio had gone far to the north to de eide their claims to preferment. When the medicine man entered the Fire-Hole basin of the Yellowstone, the full moon from mid heaven was flooding the cindered waste with wan radiance. Jets of steam from a score of craters hissed and wreathed around them, leaping and disappear ing like specters at play. The hot stones and ashes beneath their feet trembled at intervals, as if to begin mimic earthquake, and then subsided amid sharp explosions and sudden misses of steam that seemed to burst from every pinnacle and projection of the whitened area.
 l Before dark opening that broke the surface and seemed to pierce down. ward to the very bowels of the earth, the medicine man stopped. Seizing Washable by the wrist, he bent for ward and pointed into the heart of the l crater.
 There. Washakie!" he cried, ''there is the heart of the Fire Spirit! White Bull will let thee down by his ponys hair rope until thy feet touch the ledge of rock. Then put thy hands out and walk straight forward until they touch a substance that is warm and smells like powder. That is the heart of the Fire Spirit. Then draw the arrows from thy quiver and thrust them in one by one until they are all gone. The blood will run forth, soft and warm. Gather it in thy hands and fill the quiver. The hot breath of the spirit will fill thy nostrils, but fear it not. When all is done, pull on the rope, and White Bull will draw thee up and lead thee back over the noun tains to be war chief of the Shoshones. This deed has never yet been done by man. Thou shalt be known as the bravest warrior that ever led thy peo- pie in battle."
 The young man hesitated, looking at the flickering jets of steam leaping from the broken surface of the basin beyond; then he fell upon his face and peered earnestly into the darkness of the hole. Superstition, dread of the mysterious Fire Spirit that no man had ever yet conquered, filled him with un- certainty. But he believed the words of the medicine chief of his tribe, who had shown so many others the secret of bravery; and the glory of leading his tribe in war was worth an earnest ness dumb to fear. He had trod the forest many miles to find his tomaanoscos;. his strong heart would not fail him now. In another moment he was glid- ing over the edge of the crater with the moose of the hair rope bound around him.
 The medicine man braced back until the relaxing strain upon the rope told him that Washakie's feet had touched the ledge. Then he coiled the free end of the lariat fast around projecting rock.
 | Whirlwind, arrayed in paint and war bonnet, had crept through the forest and over the mountain as closely as safety permitted. At night his thrice repeated cry of a cougar had warned the medicine man of his presence. Reaching the edge of the fire basin, and screening himself behind rock, he saw the medicine man standing alone amid the floating wreathes of steam. He saw him turn and lift a heavy rock, struggle under it's weight short distance, and heave it apparent ly into the earth.
 Then there was a rumbling as if a hundred thunders had broken loose at once. The medicine man retreated hastily as a dense white cloud burst | from the earth at his feet and lowered