the boys say "akicita," which is the Dakota word for "soldier"; so I
suppose little Indian boys "play soldier," too! Then every Indian boy
from the time he is a baby has his pony. One ten-year-old boy was
telling me the other day what good care he tried to take of his pony,
and I was very glad he thought about it, and knew that his "Charlie"
ought to be well cared for. All the boys like to ride, but sometimes
they forget that their ponies ought to be kindly treated, and to have
proper food and rest. Indian boys have their favorite games, too, just
as white boys do, only their games are different. One is throwing long,
slender sticks, which they make in a certain way; but in order to know
just how they make and throw them, you may have to come and see them do
it. I am afraid I cannot tell you.

And they like to run, and jump, and play together very much as you do,
only (shall I say it?) I think they are more quiet in their playing than
many white boys I have seen and _heard_. They are not all alike any more
than white boys are. Some are naturally very bright and quick to think
and to act, and others not as much so. Some of the boys and men are
diligent and hard workers, while others are lazy. Some like to study,
and others like better to play. A large new Government boarding-school
has been lately built in our little village for the Dakota boys and
girls. One very cold day, a boy, perhaps fourteen years old, came
walking fifteen miles, without overcoat or mittens, and alone, to ask if
he might be received as a pupil in the new school. I think he must be
one of the boys who likes to study, and who wants to learn. Such boys
get ahead. Some Indian boys are naturally very gentle in their manner,
and although their clothing may be ragged and dirty, and the homes in
which they live are not nearly so bright and attractive as perhaps your
father's stable is, yet these boys appear as gentlemanly as if
accustomed to the little courtesies of the parlor in civilized life. One
verse in the Bible says: "As he thinketh in his heart, so is he," and I
think it is the gentle thoughts in the hearts of these Indian boys that
make some of them so truly _gentlemen_, notwithstanding their
surroundings and lack of training.

Some things that they say and do are very funny. After one of our
village boys had been to the new boarding-school two or three weeks, he
came to our house one day of an errand. While he waited, he said to
Winona (that is