ely so, for the trees were cracking all about
me like pistol shots. I did not mind, because I was wrapped up in my
buffalo robe with the hair inside, and a wide leather belt held it about
my loins. My skates were nothing more than strips of basswood bark bound
upon my feet.

I had taken off my frozen moccasins and put on dry ones in their places.

"Where have you been and what have you been doing?" Uncheedah asked as
she placed before me some roast venison in a wooden bowl. "Did you see
any tracks of moose or bear?"

"No, grandmother, I have only been playing at the lower end of the
lake. I have something to ask you," I said, eating my dinner and supper
together with all the relish of a hungry boy who has been skating in the
cold for half a day.

"I found this feather, grandmother, and I could not make out what tribe
wear feathers in that shape."

"Ugh, I am not a man; you had better ask your uncle. Besides, you should
know it yourself by this time. You are now old enough to think about
eagle feathers."

I felt mortified by this reminder of my ignorance. It seemed a
reflection on me that I was not ambitious enough to have found all such
matters out before.

"Uncle, you will tell me, won't you?" I said, in an appealing tone.

"I am surprised, my boy, that you should fail to recognize this feather.
It is a Cree medicine feather, and not a warrior's."

"Then," I said, with much embarrassment, "you had better tell me again,
uncle, the language of the feathers. I have really forgotten it all."

The day was now gone; the moon had risen; but the cold had not lessened,
for the trunks of the trees were still snapping all around our teepee,
which was lighted and warmed by the immense logs which Uncheedah's
industry had provided. My uncle, White Foot-print, now undertook to
explain to me the significance of the eagle's feather.

"The eagle is the most war-like bird," he began, "and the most kingly
of all birds; besides, his feathers are unlike any others, and these are
the reasons why they are used by our people to signify deeds of bravery.

"It is not true that when a man wears a feather bonnet, each one of
the feathers represents the killing of a foe or even a coup. When a man
wears an eagle feather upright upon his head, he is supposed to have
counted one of four coups upon his enemy."

"Well, then, a coup does not mean the killing of an enemy?"

"No, it is the after-stroke or touching of the body after he falls