es," said the old man sententiously, "I have lived long, and my
fighting days are nearly over. If wisdom has not accumulated on my head
it must be my own fault, for I have had great experience both of war and
peace--more of war, perhaps, than of peace. And the opinion that I have
come to after long and very deep consideration is this: if there is
something to fight for, fight--fight well; if there is nothing to fight
for, don't fight--don't fight at all."

The old man paused, and there were some "Waughs" of approval, for the
truth contained in his profound conclusion was obvious even to the
stupidest Red-skin of the band--supposing that a stupid brave among
Crees were possible!

"I have also lived to see," continued the old man, "that revenge is
nothing--nothing at all, and therefore not worth fighting for."

As this was flying straight in the face of the most cherished of
Red-skins' beliefs, it was received in dead though respectful silence.

"My young braves do not believe this. I know it. I have been young
myself, and I remember well how pleasant revenge was to me, but I soon
found that the pleasure of revenge did not last. It soon passed away,
yet the deed of revenge did not pass away, and sometimes the deed became
to my memory very bitter--insomuch that the pleasantness was entirely
swallowed up and forgotten in the bitterness. My young braves will not
believe this, I know. They go on feeling; they think on feeling; they
reason on feeling; they trust to feeling. It is foolish, for the brain
was given to enable man to think and judge and plan. You are as foolish
as if you were to try to smell with your mouth and eat with your nose.
But it is the way of youth. When experience teaches, then you will come
to know that revenge is not worth fighting for--its pleasantness will
pass away, but the bitter it leaves behind will never pass away.

"What is the meaning of revenge?" continued this analytical old savage.
"What is the use of it? Does it not mean that we give up all hope of
getting what we want, and wildly determine to get what pleasure is still
possible to us by killing those who have thwarted us? And when you have
killed and got all the pleasure there is, what does it come to? Your
enemy is dead, and scalped. What then? He does not know that he is
dead. He does not care that he is dead and scalped. You cannot keep
him alive for ever killing and scalping him. But you have made his wife
and chi