te men come and get you, and
even as they took Yamikan will they take you across the salt lake to the
white man's land. And then, even as Yamikan, will you return very fat,
your eyes full of the things you have seen, your head filled with
wisdom.'

"And Bidarshik stands up very quick, and his hand is reaching out for his
gun. 'Where do you go?' I ask. 'To kill the white man,' he says. And I
see that my words have been good in the ears of Bidarshik and that he
will grow well again. Also do I know that my words have been wise.

"There is a white man come to this village. He does not seek after gold
in the ground, nor after furs in the forest. All the time does he seek
after bugs and flies. He does not eat the bugs and flies, then why does
he seek after them? I do not know. Only do I know that he is a funny
white man. Also does he seek after the eggs of birds. He does not eat
the eggs. All that is inside he takes out, and only does he keep the
shell. Eggshell is not good to eat. Nor does he eat the eggshells, but
puts them away in soft boxes where they will not break. He catch many
small birds. But he does not eat the birds. He takes only the skins and
puts them away in boxes. Also does he like bones. Bones are not good to
eat. And this strange white man likes best the bones of long time ago
which he digs out of the ground.

"But he is not a fierce white man, and I know he will die very easy; so I
say to Bidarshik, 'My son, there is the white man for you to kill.' And
Bidarshik says that my words be wise. So he goes to a place he knows
where are many bones in the ground. He digs up very many of these bones
and brings them to the strange white man's camp. The white man is made
very glad. His face shines like the sun, and he smiles with much
gladness as he looks at the bones. He bends his head over, so, to look
well at the bones, and then Bidarshik strikes him hard on the head, with
axe, once, so, and the strange white man kicks and is dead.

"'Now,' I say to Bidarshik, 'will the white soldier men come and take you
away to the land under the sun, where you will eat much and grow fat.'
Bidarshik is happy. Already has his sickness gone from him, and he sits
by the fire and waits for the coming of the white soldier men.

"How was I to know the way of the white man is never twice the same?" the
old man demanded, whirling upon me fiercely. "How was I to know that
what the white man does yesterday