Woodland Tales Part 26

Away they went full of hope, each feeling that he surely could reach the top.

But soon a fat, pudgy boy came slowly back, and in his hand he held out to the Chief a leaf of cactus.

The Chief smiled and said: "My boy, you did not reach the foot of the mountain; you did not even get across the desert."

Later a second boy returned. He carried a twig of sagebrush.

"Well," said the Chief. "You reached the mountain's foot but you did not climb upward."

The next had a cottonwood spray.

"Good," said the Chief; "You got up as far as the springs."

Another came later with some buckthorn. The Chief smiled when he saw it and spoke thus: "You were climbing; you were up to the first slide rock."

Later in the afternoon, one arrived with a cedar spray, and the old man said: "Well done. You went half way up."

An hour afterward, one came with a switch of pine. To him the Chief said: "Good; you went to the third belt; you made three quarters of the climb."

The sun was low when the last returned. He was a tall, splendid boy of n.o.ble character. His hand was empty as he approached the Chief, but his countenance was radiant, and he said: "My father, there were no trees where I got to; I saw no twigs, but I saw the s.h.i.+ning Sea."

Now the old man's face glowed too, as he said aloud and almost sang: "I knew it. When I looked on your face, I knew it. You have been to the top. You need no twigs for token. It is written in your eyes, and rings in your voice. My boy, you have felt the uplift, you have seen the glory of the mountain."

Oh Ye Woodcrafters, keep this in mind, then: the badges that we offer for attainment, are not "_prizes_"; prizes are things of value taken by violence from their rightful owners. These are merely tokens of what you have done, of where you have been. They are mere twigs from the trail to show how far you got in climbing the mountain.

[Ill.u.s.tration: THE OMAHA TRIBAL PRAYER.

Harmonized by PROF. J. C. FILLMORE.]

Wa-kon-da dhe-dhu Wa-pa dhin a-ton-he.

Wa-kon-da dhe-dhu Wa-pa-dhin a-ton-he.

(By permission from Alice C. Fletcher's "Indian Story and Song.")

Translation:

Father a needy one stands before thee; I that sing am he.

This old Indian prayer is sung by the Council standing in a great circle about the fire with feet close together, hands and faces uplifted, for it is addressed to the Great Spirit. At the final bars the hands and faces are lowered to the fire.

Books by Ernest Thompson Seton

WILD ANIMALS I HAVE KNOWN, 1898

The stories of Lobo, Silverspot, Molly Cottontail, Bingo, Vixen, The Pacing Mustang, Wully and Redruff. (Scribners.)

THE TRAIL OF THE SANDHILL STAG, 1899

The story of a long hunt that ended without a tragedy. (Scribners.)

BIOGRAPHY OF A GRIZZLY, 1900

The story of old Wahb from cubhood to the scene in Death Gulch. (The Century Company.)

LOBO, RAG AND VIXEN, 1900

This is a school edition of "Wild Animals I Have Known," with some of the stories and many of the pictures left out. (Scribners.)

THE WILD ANIMAL PLAY, 1900

A musical play in which the parts of Lobo, Wahb, Vixen, etc., are taken by boys and girls. Out of print. (Doubleday, Page & Co.)

THE LIVES OF THE HUNTED, 1901

The stories of Krag, Randy, Johnny Bear, The Mother Teal, c.h.i.n.k, The Kangaroo Rat, and t.i.to, the Coyote. (Scribners.)

PICTURES OF WILD ANIMALS, 1901

Twelve large pictures for framing (no text), viz., Krag, Lobo, t.i.to Cub, Kangaroo Rat, Grizzly, Buffalo, Bear Family, Johnny Bear, Sandhill Stag, c.o.o.n Family, Courtaut the Wolf, t.i.to and her family. Out of print.

(Scribners.)

KRAG AND JOHNNY BEAR, 1902

This is a school edition of "The Lives of the Hunted" with some of the stories and many of the pictures left out. (Scribners.)

TWO LITTLE SAVAGES, 1903

A book of adventure and woodcraft and camping out for boys, telling how to make bows, arrows, moccasins, costumes, teepee, war-bonnet, etc., and how to make a fire with rubbing sticks, read Indian signs, etc.

(Doubleday, Page & Co.)

MONARCH, THE BIG BEAR OF TALLAC, 1904

The story of a big California grizzly that is living yet. (Scribners.)