Two Indian Children Of Long Ago Part 8

"Does he not know that I am here?" thought North Wind.

The little duck stirred the great log until it crackled and snapped.

"I cannot stand this heat," said North Wind to himself. "I am melting. I must go out." The water was dripping from his hair, and tears ran down his cheeks. He crept out of the wigwam and left Wild Duck to his songs.

"What a wonderful duck!" he said. "I cannot freeze him, I cannot even stop his singing. The spirit of the fire is helping him, and I will let him alone."

And to this day you can see the wild duck fis.h.i.+ng where the rushes grow. He is warm in his coat of thick feathers, and North Wind can never freeze the brave little duck.

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SUMMER SPORTS

Swift Elk and his companions were cutting great chunks of clay from the bank near the stream. Soon a crowd of boys, each armed with a large piece of clay and a long green switch, ran shouting to the near-by forest.

Here they divided into two bands for a sham battle, and all hid behind trees. b.a.l.l.s of clay were pressed on the ends of the slender sticks and thrown, as you would throw green apples.

Swift Elk ran out from behind the tree where he had been hiding.

Quickly he threw mud b.a.l.l.s at every boy that he saw peeping at him.

Other boys rushed from their sheltering tree trunks to dare the opposing forces. A shower of mud b.a.l.l.s filled the air. There were shouts and war whoops, advances and retreats.

Dogs, barking and jumping, rushed into battle with their masters.

When the clay was all used, the boys ran to the bank for more. For half a day the fight went on, many prisoners being taken on both sides.

Here and there were young braves who had been hit in the face and badly hurt. One was suffering great pain with a swollen eye.

Do you think he left the game and ran home? Do you think he cried or told tales? A boy would rather stand pain than be laughed at by his companions. "Tears are for girls and women," they had all heard their fathers say. "A warrior must not notice pain."

At last, heated and mud-stained, they ran to the lake and jumped in.

You would have thought they all needed a bath, could you have seen them.

Splas.h.i.+ng and swimming, diving and yelling, they continued their battle by wrestling in the water. The day wore on. One by one, tired with action, they left the lake. Some lay on the gra.s.s, and others made images of animals with soft clay.

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Two or three boys, very hungry, shot some birds, made a fire, and roasted their game. It mattered not to them that their food was far from clean.

Before they went home at night, Swift Elk's band dared the other side to a ball game, to be played the next morning.

"Let us ask Black Wolf to watch our game," said Swift Elk. All agreed.

The old warrior could not go on the long hunt or the warpath, and nothing gave him greater pleasure than to help the boys and young men in their games of strength or skill.

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THE BALL GAME

Early in the morning the boys met on the level piece of ground that had been selected for the game. At each end of the field two upright poles, a little distance apart, were erected for goal sticks.

In the great ball games played by the men, each side is allowed but one goal stick, which must be hit by the ball. As this is very difficult, Black Wolf helped the boys set up two very long sticks, between which the winner's ball was to be thrown.

Each player always carries a ball stick bent at one end into a small hoop or ring. Strips of rawhide are pa.s.sed through holes in the hoop, making a netted pocket in which the ball may rest half hidden.

The one simple rule that each player follows at all times is: "Keep the ball away from your own goal." Only by sending the ball off the field between the two goal sticks of the opposite side can victory be won.

Swift Elk and Antelope were chosen captains because they were good runners. All the best players stood in the middle of the field. The younger boys were grouped about the goal sticks with orders to send the ball back into the field.

At a signal from Black Wolf, Antelope tossed the ball into the air. It was caught by a player on his own side, who started to run in the opposite direction from his own goal sticks.

The ball was knocked out of his hand and thrown the other way. Back and forth it went until Antelope caught it in his ball stick. He started at full speed toward the goal on Swift Elk's side.

In a moment he was caught and the ball again turned. Running, screaming, throwing, pus.h.i.+ng, striking each other's arms with ball sticks, the boys rushed together.

At last Antelope's side gained the advantage. Nearer and nearer the ball came to Swift Elk's goal sticks. One strong throw, and the game would be won. Antelope's players danced and yelled with joy.

Suddenly a younger boy, one of the poor players who was made to stand on guard, caught the ball and sent it whizzing toward Swift Elk.

The other side, sure of success, was taken by surprise. Before Antelope could turn, Swift Elk had the start and was speeding toward the opposite goal.

"Never was there a finer race," Black Wolf thought. All the boys had crowded together at one end of the line to see the victory, leaving an open field for the two fleetest runners.

You would have liked to see the two Indian lads with painted bodies running like the wind. They were followed by a crowd of boys shouting, howling, rus.h.i.+ng, pus.h.i.+ng, and trying in vain to overtake them.

But not even Antelope could regain the advantage he lost in starting.

Swift Elk swung his stick and sent the ball spinning between the two poles of the goal. He had won the game for his side.

After the victors had shouted themselves hoa.r.s.e, they lay down on the ground near Black Wolf and asked for a story.

"I will tell you," said the old man, "of the most wonderful ball game the world ever saw. It happened long ago when the animals ruled the land and there were no people on the earth."

THE ANIMALS AND THE BIRDS PLAY BALL

Once the animals dared the birds to play a game of ball with them. The birds chose the eagle for their captain, and the animals chose the bear.

They all talked at the same time, trying to make their plans. When should they play? Where should they play? "Leave that to the eagle and the bear," said the deer. And all agreed.