t for his relations and told them what I had said.
They counseled together and agreed that the young woman should be given to
me. When I learned this my heart was stirred.

The news came to my lodge through one of the women of Two Bulls' family,
and my mother and sisters prepared our lodge for the coming of Standing
Alone.

It was about the middle of the day when they told me that she was coming.

Standing Alone, finely dressed, was riding a handsome spotted horse led by
one of her relations, and other women were coming behind, leading other
horses which bore loads.

The horse ridden by Standing Alone was led up close to the lodge and my
mother ran out to it. Standing Alone put her arms around my mother's neck
and slipped out of the saddle on my mother's back. My sisters caught her
feet and supported Standing Alone, who was thus carried on my mother's back
into the lodge and her feet did not touch the ground. Then she was carried
around to the back of the lodge where my sleeping place was and seated next
to me on my bed. Presently food was prepared and for the dish to be offered
to Standing Alone my mother cut up the meat into small pieces, so that she
should have no trouble in eating her food. Then Standing Alone and I ate
together and so I took her for my wife.

Many of the gifts that Two Bulls had sent with Standing Alone were
distributed among my relations.

That day all my near relations came, bringing gifts of many sorts to us who
were newly married. They brought us a lodge and much lodge furniture--robes
and bedding, backrests, mats and dishes--all the things that people used in
the life of the camp. Of these presents some were sent to the relations of
Standing Alone and they in turn sent other presents to us, so that as
husband and wife Standing Alone and I began our life well provided with all
that we needed.

I did not again go to war that year, but spent much of my time
hunting--providing food for my own family and often leaving meat at my
father-in-law's lodge.

Up to this time, as I look back on it to-day, it seems to me that life had
been easy for me and for the tribe. We had many skins for robes, lodges and
clothing. Food was plenty. If we needed horses we made journeys to war
against our enemies to the south and took what we required--but hard times
were coming.

It was but a few years after I took Standing Alone for my wife, when my
oldest boy was four years old, that the wars were begun betwe