nearly all in the wigwam arose a chorus of indignation and disgust.
To them it was a great disgrace that one of their family, and he a boy
of so many winters, should howl and cry like that, for such a trifling
injury.

How the other families would laugh at them when they heard of it! It
looked for a time as if they would severely punish him, not for his
awkwardness in handling his knife, but because he did not control his
feelings and treat the wound and the pain with utter indifference.

The old grandfather especially, was deeply stirred and indignant at
conduct so unworthy of his grandson, to whom evidently he was deeply
attached.

Indians very seldom punish their children. Upon the boys especially,
the rod is seldom used. The girls in the heathen families often have a
hard time of it, being frequently knocked about and beaten; but the boys
generally escape, even if they richly deserve punishment. Here,
however, was a very serious case. The boy had committed a crime in
crying out at an ordinary cut on his hand, inflicted by himself. It
would never do to let this pass. The lad must be taught a lesson he
would never forget. And this is the way in which it was done, much to
my amazement, by his old grandfather.

Placing near him the lad, who evidently was now feeling that he had been
very guilty, he gave him a talk upon the duty of bearing pain without
uttering a cry, or even a groan. Then the old man, who had been a great
warrior in his younger days, told him, that unless he were more
courageous than that, he would never become a brave warrior or a good
hunter; and, that unless he was able to control his feelings, and never
cry out no matter what happened, they could never respect him any more
than they would an old grandmother.

While the old man talked excitedly to him, now thoroughly roused out of
his usual calm demeanour, he renewed the fire which had partly burnt
down. When, by the addition of some very dry wood, it was burning very
vigorously, he again turned quickly to his grandson, and speaking out
sharply and excitedly, said: "See here! Look at me! This is the way a
brave warrior should stand pain!" Then, to my horror, he suddenly
reached out his hand, and holding one finger in the flame, kept it there
until it was fearfully burnt.

During this sickening ordeal, not a muscle of the old man's face
quivered; not a groan escaped from his firmly set lips. To judge from
his appearance, it might