sh air saluted Dick, mouth and nostrils, and the
ache in his head went quite away. He had seen the valley by
moonlight, when it was beautiful, but not as beautiful as their
own valley, the one of which they would not tell to anybody. But
it was full of interest. The village life, the life of the wild,
was in progress all about him, and in the sunshine, amidst such
picturesque surroundings, it had much that was attractive to the
strong and brave.

Dick judged correctly that the village contained about two
hundred winter lodges of bark and poles, and could therefore
furnish about four hundred warriors. It was evident, too, that
it was the scene of prosperity. The flesh of buffalo, elk, and
deer was drying in the sun, hanging from trees or on little
platforms of poles. Children played with the dogs or practiced
with small bows and arrows. In the shadow of a tepee six old
women sat gambling, and the two boys stopped to watch them.

The Indians are more inveterate gamblers than the whites, and the
old women, wrinkled, hideous hags of vast age, played their games
with an intent, almost breathless, interest.

They were playing Woskate Tanpan, or the game of dice, as it is
known to the Sioux. Three women were on each side, and they
played it with tanpan (the basket), kansu (the dice), and
canyiwawa (the counting sticks). The tanpan, made of willow
twigs, was a tiny basket, about three inches in diameter at the
bottom, but broader at the top, and about two inches deep. Into
this one woman would put the kansu or dice, a set of six plum
stones, some carved and some not carved. She would put her hand
over the tanpan, shake the kansu just as the white dice player
does, and then throw them out. The value of the throw would be
according to the kind and number of carvings that were turned up
when the kansu fell.

The opposing sides, three each, sat facing each other, and the
stakes for which they played--canyiwawa (the counting
sticks)--lay between them. These were little round sticks about
the thickness of a lead pencil, and the size of each heap went
up or down, as fortune shifted back or forth. They could make
the counting sticks represent whatever value they chose, this
being agreed upon beforehand, and the old Sioux women had been
known to play Woskate Tanpan two days and nights without ever
rising from their seats.

"What old harpies they are!" said Dick. "Did you ever see
anybody so eager over anything?"