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Eastman, Charles A., 1858-1939

"Old Indian Days"


They turned their heads quickly away with a
nervous tingling, for the height above the plains
was great. Almost spirit-like among the upper
clouds the young warrior sat immovable.
It was Antelope. He was fasting and seek-
ing a sign from the "Great Mystery," for such
was the first step of the young and ambitious
Sioux [who wished to be a noted warrior among
his people.
He is a princely youth, among the wild
Sioux, who hunts for his tribe and not for him-
self! His voice is soft and low at the camp-
fire of his nation, but terror-giving in the field
of battle. Such was Antelope's reputation.
The more he sought the "Great Mystery" in
solitude, the more gentle and retiring he be-
came, and in the same proportion his courage
and manliness grew. None could say that he
was not a kind son and a good hunter, for he
had already passed the "two-arrow-to-kill,"
his buffalo examination.
On a hot midsummer morning a few weeks
later, while most of the inmates of the teepees
were breakfasting in the open air, the powerful
voice of the herald resounded among the pine-
clad heights and green valleys.


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