aw, and child--was
watching Albert and him. He knew that half of this was fancy,
but he was sure that the other half was real.

"Albert," he said, "I wouldn't make any break for liberty now,
even if I hadn't given my promise."

"Nor I," said Albert. "By the time we had gone ten feet the
whole village would be on top of us. Dick, while I'm here I'm
going to make the best of it I can."

In pursuance of this worthy intention Albert pressed forward and
almost took the cansakala from the hands of a stalwart warrior.
The man, amazed at first, yielded up the pair of wands with a
grin. Albert signaled imperiously to the warrior with the hoop,
and he, too, grinning, sent canyleska whirling.

Albert cast the wands, and the hoop fell many feet from them. A
shout of laughter arose. The white youth was showing himself a
poor match for the Sioux, and the women and children came
running to see this proof of the superiority of their race.

The warrior from whom he had taken them gravely picked up the
cansakala and handed them back to Albert, the other warrior again
sent canyleska rolling, and again Albert threw the wands with the
same ill fortune. A third and fourth time he tried, with but
slight improvement, and the crowd, well pleased to see him fail,
thickened all the time, until nearly the whole village was
present.

"It's just as hard as we thought it was, Dick, and harder," said
Albert ruefully. "Here, you take it and see what you can do."

He handed cansakala to Dick, who also tried in vain, while the
crowd enjoyed the sport, laughing and chatting to one another, as
they will in their own villages. Dick made a little more
progress than Albert had achieved, but not enough to score any
points worth mentioning, and he, too, retired discomfited, while
the Sioux, especially the women, continued to laugh.

"I don't like to be beaten that way," said Albert in a nettled
tone.

"Never mind, Al, old fellow," said Dick soothingly. "Remember
it's their game, not ours, and as it makes them feel good, it's
all the better for us. Since they've beaten us, they're apt to
like us and treat us better."

It was hard for Albert to take the more philosophical view, which
was also the truthful one, but he did his best to reconcile
himself, and he and Dick moved on to other sights.

Dick noticed that the village had been located with great
judgment. On one side was the river, narrow but swift and deep;
on the other, a broad