hers from the
bushes. The buffalo, the beaver, the wolf, and the eagle--each
possessed strange powers that commanded the Indian's admiration and
respect, as did many other things in creation.

If about to go to war, the Indian did not ask his God for aid--oh, no.
He realized that God made his enemy, too; and that if He desired that
enemy's destruction, it would be accomplished without man's aid. So
the Indian sang his song to the bear, prayed to the bear, and thus
invoked aid from a brute, and not his God, when he sought to destroy
his fellows.

Whenever the Indian addressed the Great God, his prayer was for life,
and life alone. He is the most religious man I have ever known, as
well as the most superstitious; and there are stories dealing with his
religious faith that are startling, indeed.

"It is the wrong time of year to talk about berries," said War Eagle,
that night in the lodge, "but I shall tell you why your mothers whip
the buffalo-berries from the bushes. OLD-man was the one who started
it, and our people have followed his example ever since. Ho! OLD-man
made a fool of himself that day.

"It was the time when buffalo-berries are red and ripe. All of the
bushes along the rivers were loaded with them, and our people were
about to gather what they needed, when OLD-man changed things, as far
as the gathering was concerned.

"He was travelling along a river, and hungry, as he always was.
Standing on the bank of that river, he saw great clusters of red, ripe
buffalo-berries in the water. They were larger than any berries he had
ever seen, and he said:

"'I guess I will get those berries. They look fine, and I need them.
Besides, some of the people will see them and get them, if I don't.'

"He jumped into the water; looked for the berries; but they were not
there. For a time Old-man stood in the river and looked for the
berries, but they were gone.

"After a while he climbed out on the bank again, and when the water got
smooth once more there were the berries--the same berries, in the same
spot in the water.

"'Ho!--that is a funny thing. I wonder where they hid that time. I
must have those berries!' he said to himself.

"In he went again--splashing the water like a Grizzly Bear. He looked
about him and the berries were gone again. The water was rippling
about him, but there were no berries at all. He felt on the bottom of
the river but they were not there.

"'Well,' he said, 'I will cl