id his friend at his elbow.
The majority of the rest, however, sat still and showed no special
interest in what was going on.

"The Wolf was the bravest of the Winnebagos," remarked the chief, "when
our war parties met those of the Sauks and Foxes and Pottawatomies who
dared to come into our country; the heart of the Wolf bounded with
delight and no tomahawk was hurled with such swiftness as his: no gun
was fired more often; no scalping knife took back more scalps to hang
upon the ridge-pole of his wigwam.

"But the Wolf came across the Big Water and his heart longed for the
scalp of the pale face; he went out to hunt for it; he came back; the
tongue of the Wolf is not double and tells no lies; the Wolf met a
Shawanoe warrior who took his gun from him.

"It was the young Shawanoe called Deerfoot; the Winnebagos have been
told about Deerfoot, the friend of the white man; the heart of Black
Bear (meaning himself) was angry; he was chief of the Winnebagos; he
told the Wolf that he must go forth and bring back his rifle; the Wolf
went; he did not bring back his rifle, but left his knife behind;
Deerfoot saw him and took it away from him.

"Deerfoot is but a youth; he is not a mighty warrior; the Wolf must get
his gun and knife; he must bring back the scalp of the Shawanoe, he
shall take Wau-ko-mia-tan with him; each shall have his gun; let them
bring back the scalps of Deerfoot and the two pale faces with him; then
will Black Bear forget that the Wolf was not always a great warrior.

"Let the Wolf and Wau-ko-mia-tan make haste; the Winnebagos are on the
war path; they will carry back with them the scalps of the pale faces
who are gathering the skins of the beaver and otter and foxes by the
base of the mountain."

It may be said that this little speech developed the plan of the
Winnebago campaign. The Wolf had fallen so low in the opinion of his
chieftain and brother warriors, that it was necessary for him to take
heroic measures to restore himself. Seeing this, the sachem had just
notified him that he must secure the scalps of Deerfoot and the two
white boys with him. Wau-ko-mia-tan (who was the warrior that sat at the
elbow of the Wolf), was to be his companion. The chieftain knew how
closely the two were allied, and he indulged in the little fiction of
allowing one to keep company with the other, when the truth was he was
afraid to let the Wolf go alone. Since on each of the two former
excursions he had lost someth