Lone Chief was at home, smoking his pipe
in the doorway of his tepee.

Dusty Star advanced slowly. When he reached the tepee he sat down in
front of the medicine-man. Neither of them spoke for some time, although
no one had told the boy that this was the politest way of beginning a
conversation, when it is not necessary to talk about the weather. So
Lone Chief gazed politely beyond Dusty Star's head, and Dusty Star
stared politely at Lone Chief's moccasins, while now and then a maple
leaf drifted down beside them.

When the fourth leaf had fallen, Dusty Star explained the reason of his
visit.

Lone Chief waited a little before he replied, because of his habit of
being very sure about his thoughts before he made words to fit them.

And while Lone Chief made his words, his gaze struck into his visitor's
face with the edge of a tomahawk. Dusty Star returned the look without
flinching and noted the way in which Lone Chief painted his face. And
indeed it was something to observe, for across his forehead and down his
cheeks went bars of black and yellow and red, as if his face were a cage
to keep his eyes from rushing out.

"My grandmother has a pain here," Dusty Star began abruptly, indicating
the place.

He did not say any more then, knowing that Lone Chief would know quite
well why he had come, so that any further explanation would be merely
throwing words away.

"When did it begin?" the medicine man asked.

"She made many noises this morning," Dusty Star answered. "She is making
them all the time when she does not like herself inside."

Lone Chief remained silent.

"Have they made any medicine for her?" he asked presently, with a shade
of suspicion in his voice.

It was an awkward question. Dusty Star wished to be quite truthful. At
the same time, he did not want to confess what he had done. He had
intended the thumping for medicine, though it was hardly the same thing
as the grown-up people made, particularly as he had performed it without
saying any medicine-words with it. It was his grandmother who had said
the words, and they differed considerably from what the medicine-men
used.

"No," he said at last. "They have not used any medicine." He could not
find courage to add. "But I thumped."

After which nothing was said by either of them for a long time. And the
maple leaves went on falling.

At length Dusty Star thought it was time that Lone Chief should begin to
make preparations to start, if he int