grasped the handle of her knife, as if she
would plunge it into her own bosom for harboring the dark thought. Never
should she be unfaithful; when Fiery Wind returned she would tell him
all, and then she would become his wife, and she felt that her own heart
was true enough to guard him, her own arm strong enough to slay
his enemy.

* * * * *

All women are wilful enough, but Dahcotah women are particularly so.
Slaves as they are to their husbands, they lord it over each other, and
it is only when they become grandmothers that they seem to feel their
dependence, and in many instances yield implicit obedience to the wills
of their grandchildren.

They take great delight in watching over and instructing their
children's children; giving them lessons in morality, [Footnote: The
idea is ridiculed by some, that an Indian mother troubles herself about
the morals of her children; but it is nevertheless true, that she talks
to them, and, according to her own ideas of right and wrong, tries to
instil good principles into their minds. The grandmothers take a great
deal of care of their grandchildren.] and worldly wisdom. Thus while Red
Earth was making her determination, her old grandmother belonging to the
village was acting upon hers.

This old woman was a perfect virago--an "embodied storm." In her time
she had cut off the hands and feet of some little Chippeway children,
and strung them, and worn them for a necklace. And she feasted yet at
the pleasant recollections this honorable exploit induced.

But so tender was she of the feelings of her own flesh and blood, that
the thought of their suffering the slightest pain was death to her.

Her son ruled his household very well for a Dahcotah. He had a number of
young warriors and hunters growing up around him, and he sometimes got
tired of their disturbances, and would use, not the rod but a stick of
wood to some purpose. Although it had the good effect of quelling the
refractory spirits of the young, it invariably fired the soul of his
aged mother. The old woman would cry and howl, and refuse to eat, for
days; till, finding this had no effect upon her hard-hearted son, she
told him she would do something that would make him sorry, the next time
he struck one of his children.

But the dutiful son paid no attention to her. He had always considered
women as being inferior to dogs, and he would as soon have thought of
giving up smoking, as of