ould 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.

"Hear ye, hear ye, warriors!" he chanted loudly. "The council has
decreed that four brave young men must scout the country to the
sunsetward of the camp, for the peace and protection of our people!"

All listened eagerly for the names of the chosen warriors, and in
another moment there came the sonorous call: "Antelope, Antelope! the
council has selected you!"

The camp was large--fully four hundred paces across; but in that
country, in the clear morning air, such an announcement can be heard a
great way, and in the silence that followed the hills repeated over and
over the musical name of Antelope.

In due time the four chosen youths appeared before the council fire.
The oath of the pipe was administered, and each took a few whiffs as
reverently as a Churchman would partake of the sacrament. The chief of
the council, who was old and of a striking appearance, gave the charge
and command to the youthful braves.

There was a score or more of warriors ready mounted to escort them
beyond the precincts of the camp, and the "fearless heart" song was sung
according to the custom, as the four ran lightly from the door of the
council teepee and disappeared in the woods.

It was a peculiarly trying and hazardous moment in which to perform
the duties of a scout. The Sioux were encroaching upon the territory of
hostile tribes, here in the foot-hills of the Big Horn Mountains, and
now and then one of their hunters was cut off by the enemy. If continual
vigilance could not save them, it might soon become necessary to retreat
to their own hunting-grounds.

It was a savage fetish that a warrior must be proof against the alluring
ways of pretty maidens; that he must place his honor far above the
temptations of self-indulgence and indolence. Cold, hunger, and personal
hardship did not count with Antelope when there was required of him
any special exertion for the common good. It was cause to him of secret
satisfaction that the council-men had selected him for a dangerous
service in preference to some of his rivals and comrades.

He had been running for two or three hours at a good, even ga