ign of
the hand which signifies crazy or foolish, and the mother rose and went
away sobbing.

Then Grayman recalled the words of the Little Father. "If my own brother
should do wrong, I would give him up to the war chief," he therefore
said. "If my son and my sister's son are guilty, I will give them up,"
and he rose and sought out Crawling Elk and told him of his fears, and
repeated his resolution as they sat together while the sun was going
down and the crier was calling the second council.

"It is right," said Elk. "Those who are guilty must be punished; but we
do not know who fired the shot."

The people were slow in coming together this second time, and darkness
was falling as the head men again took their seats. A small fire was
being built in the centre of the circle, and towards this at last, like
nocturnal insects, the larger number of the people in the two camps
slowly concentrated.

The wind had gone down and the night was dark and still and warm. The
people gathered in comparative silence, though the laugh of a girl
occasionally broke from the clustering masses of the women, to be
followed by a mutter of jests from the young men who stood close packed
behind the older members of the bands. Excitement had deepened since the
morning, for in some way the news had passed from lip to lip that
Grayman had discovered the evil-doer.

On their part the chieftains were slow to begin their painful task. They
smoked in silence till the fire was twice replenished, then began
talking in low tones among themselves. At last Crawling Elk arose and
made a speech similar to that of the morning. He recounted the tale of
the murdered white man, and the details of finding the body, and ended
by saying: "We are commanded by the agent to find the ones who have done
this evil deed. If any one knows anything about this, let him come
forward and speak. It is not right that we should all suffer for the
wrong-doing of some reckless young warriors."

"Come forth and speak, any one who knows," called the head men, looking
round the circle. "He who remains silent does wrong."

Two Horns rose. "We mean you, young men--you too," he said, turning to
the women. "If any of you have heard anything of this matter, speak!"

Then the silence fell again on the circle of old men, and they bent
their heads in meditation. Crawling Elk was just handing the pipe to
Grayman, in order to rise, when a low mutter and a jostling caused every
glance