nto favor, and it was soon
proved by a lightening of his labors and an increase in his share of the
general amusements. Life was continually growing more tolerable. The
black periods were becoming shorter and the bright periods were growing
longer. The evenings had now grown so cold that the young Sioux spent
them mostly in the lodges, Will devoting a large part of his time to
learning the language from Inmutanka, who was a willing teacher. As he
had much leisure and the Sioux vocabulary was limited he could soon talk
it fluently.

All the while the winter deepened and Will, seeing that he would have no
possible chance of escape for many months, resigned himself to his
captivity. The fierce rain that lasted two days, was followed by snow,
but the Indians still hunted and brought in much game, particularly
several fine elk of the great size found only in the far northwest. They
stood as tall as a horse, and Will judged that they weighed more than a
thousand pounds apiece.

Then deeper snow came and he could hear it thundering in avalanches on
the distant slopes. He was quite sure now that they were even farther
north than he had at first supposed, and that probably they would be
snowed in all the winter in the valley, a condition to which the Indians
were indifferent, as they had good shelter and plenty of food. They
began to make snowshoes, but Will judged that they would be used for
hunting rather than for travel. There was no reason on earth that he
knew why the village should move, or any of its people abandon it.

The warriors spent a part of their time making lances, bows, arrows and
shields, sometimes working in a cave-like opening in the slope a little
distance from the village. Will did his share of this work and grew
exceedingly skilful. One very cold morning he and several others were
toiling hard at the task under the critical eye of old Xingudan, who sat
on a ledge wrapped in a pair of heavy blankets, Will's fine repeating
rifle lying across his knees.

Two of the warriors were sent back to the village for more materials,
the others were dispatched on different tasks until finally only Will
was left at work, with Xingudan watching. The Fox had seen many winters
and summers, and his wilderness wisdom was great, but he was an Indian
and a Sioux to the bone. He had noted the steady march of the white man
toward the west, and even if the buffalo continued to come forever in
countless numbers out of the vast