ith braces of pheasant and geese,
with deer slung from poles, with buffalo and elk carcasses mounted on
travois dragging behind their horses. White Bear felt his nostrils
expand to take in the smells of meats being roasted and stewed. In a few
days all the chiefs of the Sauk and Fox, along with representatives of
the Winnebago, Potawatomi and Kickapoo, would be gathering here at Black
Hawk's invitation.

Even sooner, though, a ceremony would take place that meant much more to
White Bear. Tomorrow night he and Redbird would at last be married. And
he had come to Redbird's father today to give him the only present he
had to offer.

White Bear pointed to the dial of the watch. "Father of my bride, if
you want to know when the sun will rise tomorrow, you look at where
these two arrows are at sunrise today. When they are in the same place
again, it will be half the time till the next sunrise. When they are in
the same place after that, it will be sunrise the next day." He
faltered. To himself, his explanation sounded at once useless and
ridiculously complicated. "... Almost. In truth, the sun does not rise
at the same time every day," he finished weakly.

Owl Carver stared at him as if he had uttered nonsense. "The sun rises
at sunrise."

He remembered how Frank Hopkins always reset his clock at sunset. "Yes,
but in summer the days are long and in winter the days are short. But
the arrows on this watch cannot keep pace with the sun."

Owl Carver shook his head. "Many things the pale eyes make are useful,
but I do not understand the use of this thing."

_What a struggle!_

White Bear had a sudden inspiration. "It is true, this watch cannot tell
you as much as the sun does, but it can tell you one thing."

"What is that?" Owl Carver frowned, weighing the watch in his hand.

"It can tell you when a pale eyes will do something."

Owl Carver grunted. "Well, it is pretty to look at. And it moves and
makes sounds."

White Bear snapped open the back of the case, where the key was kept,
and showed Owl Carver how to wind the watch, impressing on him the need
to handle it very gently. Then the shaman went into his wickiup to put
the watch in his medicine bundle.

White Bear sighed. He missed talking with Elysee, missed the library at
Victoire, from which he'd managed to take only one book.

_Well, this world of sky and trees and rivers and animals is a library
too. Owl Carver knows how to read in it, and he has taught m