The Savannah morning news., 1903-07-26

band at once dismounted. A mum Der
of the squaws deity relieved the ponies
of their burdens, and the younger
boys led them away 10 the bottom
lands for pasture. The women then
began without delay to erect the lodges
in a wide circle surrounding the brow
of the hill, so arranging them that me
flaps or doorways opened into the COM
mon center. After this had been done,
they built in the middle of the circle
a huge fire of wood brought from the
Hills, but did not light it as yet. Then
all silently disappeared to the bottom
lands. where they made little fires and
set about supper.
Before each lodge a warrior estab-
lshed himself cross-legged, and be-
gan to smoke. When the sun dipped
behind the Hills and threw their long
shadows silently out across to the Bad
Lands, the chill of twilight struck in,
and so the Indians wrapped themselves
closely in their blankets. AS by a
stroke of enchantment with the con-
cealment of the shirts and overalls
the Past returned. Against the sky of
evening, the silhouettes of the pointed
Wigwams and the suggestion of The
shrouded warriors smoking solemnly
silently, their pipes, all belonged to the
nomadic age before such men as Mi
chail Lafond had civilized" the coun-
try.
After a time they rose and departed
silently to the bottom-land for a while
leaving Lafond in charge of the two
young men. They had gone to eat
their suppers. The half-breed had not
tasted food since the early morning,
nor slept for thirty-odd hours.
The stars came out one by one, and
the stiffness of that great inland sea
men call the prairies fell on the world.
Such occasional sounds as rose from
the creek bottom seemed but to en-
phasize the peace. And then sudden
ly, from the shadows somewhere, with
out disturbance, the blanketed figures
appeared and took their places again.
A squaw came bearing a torch, and
lit the fire in the center of the circle,
and there sprang up a broad shaft of
light which drew about the little scene
a great canopy of imminent black
ness. From hand to hand passed a
great red-stone calumet or pipe Each
warrior puffed at it twice and passed
it to hi, neighbor. 1t was not offered
to Michail Lafond, whose bonds had
! now been loosened.
Alter each of the seated warriors
hri taken his part in this ceremony.
and the pipe had completed the circle
&c Lone Welt, that chief arose, throw
ing back his blanket from his Shout
ders
With sudden chill of fear, Michail
Lafond saw that he was to assist at a
state council of the sort held only
when the tribe is to sit in judgment
or one of it's own number.
The savage was naked to the waist.
In his hair, worn loose and unbranded
after the Sioux fashion. three eagle
feathers with white tips were thrust
slantwlse across the back of his head;
and Under its heavy mass his fierce
] 60, oil. a.11
impresSively. About his neck hung a
fringe of bears claws. from which de-
pended a round silver medal. Now as
he stood there-the 1.-the strength of
his bronze torso revealed one arm
| clasping the blanket about his waist,
the other holding loosely at his side
| the feather bedecked calumet of sand
stone-the stigma of sordidness and
| drunkenness and SqualOr seemed to fall
have seen in this group of silent men
| under the silent Western heavens only
the pomp and pride of a great and
savage people in the zenith of its
power.
Lone Wolf stood for the space of
several minutes without a sign. Then
with a magniflcently sweeping gesture
| he held the calumet aloft and began to
| speak.
At first his voice was low and mo-
notonous, but as his speech continued
| it took on more color until at the
| close it responded in meditation to ev-
cry flash of his eye. He began with a
| recital of the tribes ancient glory,
| dwelling rather on concrete examples
| than on broader generalities. He num-
bered it's warriors, its ponies, its arms
and lodges. He told of the beauty of
| its women and the greatness of it's
! men, whom he ran over by name. He
told of it's deeds in war, enumerating
the enemies it had struck, the ponies
it had stolen, the stratagems it had
| conceived and carried out. And then
he swept his arm and the feather
fiuttering calumet abroad as he de-
scribed the boundless extent of the
| hunting grounds over which 1t had
used to roam. AS he continued, the
warriors expressive eyes frightened
and flashed with pride, though they
| moved not one muscle of their faces or
| bodies. Beyond the circle could be
dimly deserted another not less inter
ested audience of women and older
children.
These and more were ours!" cried
Lone Wolf, these and many more.
The favor of Gitchie Manitou was ours
and the riches of the world. Where
are they now?" With an indescrib-
ably graceful gesture the orator stoop-
full of the loose dry earth. "Gone!''
he said, solemly, letting the sand fall
from his outstretcned suddenly opened
| palm.
Then, without pause or transition
! he began, in equally vivid objective
| language, to detail the tribes misery
and poverty of to-day. He recounted
| its disasters, just as a moment before
he had recounted it's victories. He
told of the Spotted Sickness. the divid-
ing forces, the battle with the red
coats, all the long series of oppres-
sions great and little which had
brought them to their present condi-
ton. He counted over by name the
! present members, to show how their
numbers had shrunken, and to each
name he added others of those who
had gone before. So real was the pic
ture the circle rose for a single in
slant long trembling wall. The war
riors had half-covered their faces with
the folds of their blankets.
THUS our glory went and our young
men are seen no longer on the war
| path, but only in the white men S
| towns. And yet our fathers were brave
before us and we have struck we'll in
our time. Why is this so? Why nas
! Gitchie Mantou yelled his face from
his children"
Leaving the question unanswered
| Lone Wolf unexpectedly took up La
fond's connection with the tribe. IN
the recounting of this too he held to
| the greatest minuteness of detail,
| showing plainly the half breeds rise
from despised squaw man to person
of influence in the councils. He gave
the half-breed full credit for all he