k used to light the pipe.

Black Hawk said, "By the smoking of the sacred tobacco let all these
promises be sealed."

White Bear went cold as he saw the light gray smoke curl up from Black
Hawk's pipe and smelled its sweet scent. Once he put the pipe to his
lips and drew the smoke into his mouth, he would be bound to go with
Star Arrow as firmly as he was bound to the Sauk tribe.

Holding the pipestem with one hand in the middle and the other at the
end, Black Hawk ceremoniously drew on the pipe and let a cloud of smoke
out of his mouth. He handed the pipe to Star Arrow, who fixed his gaze
on White Bear and did the same. Next the pipe went to Owl Carver, who
took the single puff that bound him to the agreement. Owl Carver took
the pipe in turn to Jumping Fish, Broth and Little Stabbing Chief. Each
puffed on it, bearing witness.

Then Owl Carver walked over to White Bear and handed him the pipe.

Trembling with fear that what he was about to do might be the ruin of
him, White Bear took the pipe in his hands. His fingers felt the ridged
wrappings and the smooth, warm stone of the bowl. He had never smoked a
sacred pipe before.

He could hand the pipe back to Owl Carver and refuse. But he knew that
this had gone so far that if he did that, not only would he never be
accepted as a shaman, he might not even be accepted as a Sauk.

He wanted to look at Redbird, but he dared not. He looked instead at Sun
Woman and saw her eyes warm with the wish that he would smoke the pipe.

He put the calumet to his lips and pulled the hot smoke into his mouth.
It burned his tongue and the insides of his cheeks. He took the pipe
away and held the smoke for a moment, then puffed it out. As he did so,
a sigh went up from the watchers.

Black Hawk was standing before him. White Bear handed the pipe up to
him.

"May you walk this path on which we send you with courage and honor,"
Black Hawk said.

He turned to the people. "This council is at an end."

White Bear knew he could not hold back his tears any longer. He sprang
to his feet and blindly hurled himself into the crowd that was already
beginning to disperse. He felt a hand on his arm, but he pulled away
from it.

He began to run. He ran through Saukenuk, through the meadow, into the
trees by the river's edge. He ran past the graves. He ran with the hard,
steady stride of one carrying a message.

But a messenger did not run sobbing, with tears streaming down his
face.