More than once they told him by
their actions of the presence of a distant camp-
fire, but in each instance it proved to be a small
war-party which had passed below them on the
trail.
Again it was summer. Never had the moun-
tains looked grander or more mysterious to the
eyes of the two. The valley was full of the
music and happiness of the winged summer peo-
ple; the trees wore their summer attire, and the
meadow its green blanket. There were many
homes made happy by the coming of little peo-
ple everywhere, but no pair was happier than
Stasu and her husband when one morning they
saw their little brave lying wrapped in soft
deerskins, and heard for the first time his
plaintive voice!
That morning, when Antelope set out on the
hunt, he stopped at the stream and looked at
himself seriously to see whether he had changed
since the day before. He must now appear
much graver, he said to himself, because he is
the father of a new man!
In spite of himself, his thoughts were with
his own people, and he wondered what his old
grandmother would have said to his child! He
looked away off toward the Black Hills, to the
Sioux country, and in his heart he said, "I am
a coward!"
The boy grew naturally, and never felt the
lack of playmates and companions, for his
mother was ingenious in devising plays for
him, and in winning for him the confidence and
kindness of the animal friends.
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