e Indian encampment.

"I see the tents!" cried Rose, standing up in the back of the car to see
over the windshield.

"Those are wigwams," said Russ. "Aren't they wigwams, Mr.
Scarbontiskil?"

"You look out or my name will get stuck crossways in your throat and
choke you," growled the ranchman. "You can call 'em wigwams. But those
are just summer shacks, and not like the winter wigwams. Anyhow, up
there on their reservation, these Indians have pretty warm and
comfortable houses for the winter."

The children did not understand all of this, but they were very much
interested and excited. When the car stopped before the group of
tent-like structures a number of Indian children and women gathered
around, laughing and talking. They seemed to be very pleasant people,
and not at all like the wild-looking red riders the little Bunkers had
seen earlier in the day.

"But I am just as glad those painted men are not here," Rose said to
Russ. "Aren't you, Russ?"

But Russ had begun to see that there must be some trick in it. These
squaws and Indian children would not be so gentle if their husbands and
fathers were as savage as they had appeared to be. He could not exactly
understand it, but there was a trick in it he was sure. Another surprise
coming!

CHAPTER XVII

IN CHIEF BLACK BEAR'S WIGWAM

"Where is Black Bear, Mary?" asked Cowboy Jack of an old woman who was
cooking something in a pot over one of the fires in the open.

"Out on the job, Mr. Jack," was the reply. "They ought to be in soon,
for the sun is too low for good light. You can go into Bear's wikiup if
you want to."

"Oh! A bear!" whispered Vi, clinging to daddy's hand. "Is it loose?"

"I expect it is loose, all right," chuckled daddy. "But you will
probably not find it a very savage bear."

"Has it teeth--and claws?" pursued the little girl. "Bears bite, don't
they?"

"I promise you that this one won't bite you," boomed Cowboy Jack's great
voice. "He's just as tame a bear as ever you saw. Isn't he, Mary?"

The old woman smiled kindly at the children and nodded. She was old and
wrinkled, and her face looked as though it had been cured in the smoke
of many campfires. Nevertheless, she was a pleasant woman and even Vi
felt some confidence in her statement. At least, all four little Bunkers
went with Cowboy Jack and daddy to the big skin and canvas tent that
stood in the middle of the camp. It was the biggest tent of all.

It was rather dark