ws
together and by intertwining the ends made them fast, and throwing
their tent robe over this, soon had a cosy tepee in which to sleep.
They started their fire and cooked some dried buffalo meat and buffalo
tallow, and were just about to eat their supper when a figure of a man
came slowly in through the door and sat down near where he had entered.
Hake, being the one who was doing the cooking, poured out some tea into
his own cup, and putting a piece of pounded meat and marrow into a small
plate, placed it before the stranger, saying: "Eat, my friend, we are
on the warpath and do not carry much of a variety of food with us, but I
give you the best we have."

The stranger drew the plate towards him, and commenced eating
ravenously. He soon finished his meal and handed the dish and cup back.
He had not uttered a word so far. Chaske filled the pipe and handed it
to him. He smoked for a few minutes, took one last draw from the pipe
and handed it back to Chaske, and then he said: "Now, my friends, I am
not a living man, but the wandering spirit of a once great warrior, who
was killed in these woods by the enemy whom you two brave young men are
now seeking to make war upon. For years I have been roaming these woods
in hopes that I might find some one brave enough to stop and listen
to me, but all who have camped here in the past have run away at my
approach or fired guns or shot arrows at me. For such cowards as these
I have always found a grave. They never returned to their homes. Now I
have found two brave men whom I can tell what I want done, and if you
accomplish what I tell you to do, you will return home with many horses
and some scalps dangling from your belts. Just over this range of hills
north of us, a large village is encamped for the winter. In that camp is
the man who laid in ambush and shot me, killing me before I could get
a chance to defend myself. I want that man's scalp, because he has been
the cause of my wanderings for a great many years. Had he killed me on
the battlefield my spirit would have at once joined my brothers in the
happy hunting grounds, but being killed by a coward, my spirit is doomed
to roam until I can find some brave man who will kill this coward and
bring me his scalp. This is why I have tried every party who have camped
here to listen to me, but as I have said before, they were all cowards.
Now, I ask you two brave young men, will you do this for me?"

"We will," said the friends in