第28章 TWO STRIKE(2)

At last the herd parted,and he cut out two fat cows,and was maneuvering for position when a rider appeared out of the snow cloud on their other side.This aroused him to make haste lest his rival secure both cows;he saw his chance,and in a twinkling his arrow sped clear through one of the animals so that she fell headlong.

In this instant he observed that the man who had joined him was his own father,who had met with the same difficulties as himself.When the young man had shot his only arrow,the old chief with a whoop went after the cow that was left,but as he gained her broadside,his horse stepped in a badger hole and fell,throwing him headlong.The maddened buffalo,as sometimes happens in such cases,turned upon the pony and gored him to death.His rider lay motionless,while Two Strike rushed forward to draw her attention,but she merely tossed her head at him,while persistently standing guard over the dead horse and the all but frozen Indian.

Alas for the game of "one arrow to kill!"The boy must think fast,for his father's robe had slipped off,and he was playing dead,lying almost naked in the bitter air upon the trampled snow.

His bluff would not serve,so he flew back to pull out his solitary arrow from the body of the dead cow.Quickly wheeling again,he sent it into her side and she fell.The one arrow to kill had become one arrow to kill two buffalo!At the council lodge that evening Two Strike was the hero.

The following story is equally characteristic of him,and in explanation it should be said that in the good old days among the Sioux,a young man is not supposed to associate with girls until he is ready to take a wife.It was a rule with our young men,especially the honorable and well-born,to gain some reputation in the hunt and in war,--the more difficult the feats achieved the better,--before even speaking to a young woman.Many a life was risked in the effort to establish a reputation along these lines.

Courtship was no secret,but rather a social event,often celebrated by the proud parents with feasts and presents to the poor,and this etiquette was sometimes felt by a shy or sensitive youth as an insurmountable obstacle to the fulfilment of his desires.

Two Strike was the son and grandson of a chief,but he could not claim any credit for the deeds of his forbears.He had not only to guard their good name but achieve one for himself.This he had set out to do,and he did well.He was now of marriageable age with a war record,and admitted to the council,yet he did not seem to trouble himself at all about a wife.His was strictly a bachelor career.Meanwhile,as is apt to be the case,his parents had thought much about a possible daughter-in-law,and had even collected ponies,fine robes,and other acceptable goods to be given away in honor of the event,whenever it should take place.

Now and then they would drop a sly hint,but with no perceptible effect.

They did not and could not know of the inward struggle that racked his mind at this period of his life.The shy and modest young man was dying for a wife,yet could not bear even to think of speaking to a young woman!The fearless hunter of buffaloes,mountain lions,and grizzlies,the youth who had won his eagle feathers in a battle with the Utes,could not bring himself to take this tremendous step.

At last his father appealed to him directly."My son,"he declared,"it is your duty to take unto yourself a wife,in order that the honors won by your ancestors and by yourself may be handed down in the direct line.There are several eligible young women in our band whose parents have intimated a wish to have you for their son-in-law."Two Strike made no reply,but he was greatly disturbed.He had no wish to have the old folks select his bride,for if the truth were told,his choice was already made.He had simply lacked the courage to go a-courting!

The next morning,after making an unusually careful toilet,he took his best horse and rode to a point overlooking the path by which the girls went for water.Here the young men were wont to take their stand,and,if fortunate,intercept the girl of their heart for a brief but fateful interview.Two Strike had determined to speak straight to the point,and as soon as he saw the pretty maid he came forward boldly and placed himself in her way.A long moment passed.She glanced up at him shyly but not without encouragement.His teeth fairly chattered with fright,and he could not say a word.She looked again,noted his strange looks,and believed him suddenly taken ill.He appeared to be suffering.

At last he feebly made signs for her to go on and leave him alone.

The maiden was sympathetic,but as she did not know what else to do she obeyed his request.

The poor youth was so ashamed of his cowardice that he afterward admitted his first thought was to take his own life.He believed he had disgraced himself forever in the eyes of the only girl he had ever loved.However,he determined to conquer his weakness and win her,which he did.The story came out many years after and was told with much enjoyment by the old men.

Two Strike was better known by his own people than by the whites,for he was individually a terror in battle rather than a leader.He achieved his honorable name in a skirmish with the Utes in Colorado.The Sioux regarded these people as their bravest enemies,and the outcome of the fight was for some time uncertain.

First the Sioux were forced to retreat and then their opponents,and at the latter point the horse of a certain Ute was shot under him.A friend came to his rescue and took him up behind him.Our hero overtook them in flight,raised his war club,and knocked both men off with one blow.

He was a very old man when he died,only two or three years ago,on the Rosebud reservation.