I seemed to be never lonely, because you were there!" He finished his
plea, and with outward calmness awaited her reply.

The maiden had not lost a word, but she was still thinking. She thought
that a man is much like the wind of the north, only pleasant and
comfortable in midsummer! She feared that she might some time have to
furnish all the fuel for their love's fires; therefore she held her
peace. Matoska waited for several minutes and then silently withdrew,
bearing his disappointment with dignity.

Meanwhile the camp was astir with the returning youths and maidens,
their horses' sides fringed with the long meadow grass, singing
plaintive serenades around the circular rows of teepees before they
broke up for the night.

It was a clear and quiet night; the evening fires were kindled and every
teepee transformed into an immense Chinese lantern. There was a glowing
ring two miles in circumference, with the wooded river bottom on one
side and the vast prairie on the other. The Black Hills loomed up in the
distance, and the rapids of the wild Cheyenne sent forth a varying peal
of music on the wind. The people enjoyed their evening meal, and in the
pauses of their talk and laughter the ponies could be heard munching at
the bundles of green grass just outside the teepees.

Suddenly a chorus of yells broke cruelly the peace of the camp, followed
by the dashing charge of the Crow Indian horsemen! It was met as bravely
and quickly by the Sioux; and in the clear, pale moonlight the dusky
warriors fought, with the occasional flash of a firearm, while silent
weapons flew thick in the air like dragon-flies at sunset.

The brave mothers, wives, and sisters gave their shrill war-cry to
inspire their men, and show the enemy that even the Sioux women cannot
be daunted by such a fearful surprise!

When the morning sun sent its golden shafts among the teepees, they saw
it through glistening tears--happy tears, they said, because the brave
dead had met their end in gallant fight--the very end they craved! And
among those who fell that night was Brave Hawk, the handsome brother of
the Blue Sky.

In a few days the camp was moved to a point further up the Cheyenne and
deeper into the bosom of the hills, leaving behind the decorated
grave lodges belonging to the honored dead. A great council teepee was
pitched, and here the people met to credit those who had earned them
with the honors of the fight, that they might thereafter wear th