e arrows whistling to the mark. At last the chief, Yellow
Panther, himself handled a bow and surpassed all who had preceded him in
skill. Then, turning with a malicious eye to Big Fox, he said:

"Perhaps the Shawnee belt bearers would like to show how well they can use
the bow. Surely they are not less in skill than the Miamis?"

His look was full of venom. Shawnees, though armed now with rifles, were
good bowmen, and whatever he suspected might be confirmed by the failure
of the belt bearers to show skill, or not to shoot at all. He held in his
hand the great bow that he had used, and, barring the malice of his eyes,
his gesture was full of politeness.

Big Fox did not hesitate a moment. He stepped forward, took the bow and
arrow from the hand of Yellow Panther, glanced at the great owl at which
the chief had shot, and then walked back fifteen yards farther from it. A
murmur of applause came from the crowd. He would shoot at a much greater
distance than Yellow Panther had shot, and the chief and Braxton Wyatt,
too, who had drawn near, frowned.

Big Fox glanced once more at the body of the great owl, and then, fitting
the arrow to the string, he bent the bow. An involuntary cry of admiration
came from a people who valued physical strength and skill when they saw
the ease and grace with which he bent the tough wood. Not in vain had
nature given Big Fox a figure of power and muscles of steel! Not in vain
had nature given him an eye the like of which was not to be found on all
the border! Not in vain had he achieved surpassing skill with the bow in
his life among the Northwestern Indians!

There was silence as the bow bent and the arrow was drawn back to the
head. Then that silence was broken only by the whizz of the feathered
shaft as it shot through the air. But a universal shout arose as the arrow
struck fairly in the center of the owl, pierced it like a bullet, and flew
far beyond.

Big Fox turned and handed back the bow to Yellow Panther.

"Is it enough?" he asked gravely. "Can the Shawnee belt bearers use the
bow and arrow?"

"It is enough," replied the chief, seeking in vain to hide his chagrin.

"It wuz great luck," whispered The Bat to Brown Bear, a little later,
"that the challenge to the bow an' arrow should a-been made to perhaps the
only white in all the West who could a-done sech a thing."

The belt bearers spent a second night in the same lodge, and on the
morning of the third day they announced th