which was a small matter to the brothers,
who were glad to see him, for he was the one person in the village with
whom they could converse freely. Carefully placing the meat on several
sticks, so as to protect it from dirt, he sat down to chat a few
minutes with his young friends.

He told them of his visit to his father and mother, whose hearts were
made as glad as his own, after their long separation; of his call on
the father and mother of the companion whose body lay at rest many
hundreds of miles away in the East, and of the comforting assurance
that was now his that nothing was to be feared from the resentment of
Chief Taggarak. Spink and Jiggers had received within the preceding ten
days the assurance from the sachem himself, so that all uneasiness was
gone from the heart of Mul-tal-la. But, had not the counsel of the two
messengers been followed, nothing would have restrained Taggarak from
taking the life of the one that had failed to bring back his comrade.

Victor told of the visit just received from the urchin, and of the
present made to him, much to the lad's delight.

"We christened him 'Smiler,'" said Victor, "for I never saw such a grin
on the face of man or boy."

"We could not help giving him the beads, but fear it will make trouble,
for all the other boys in the village will want something, and we
haven't supply for half a dozen."

"It might have been as my brothers say," replied Mul-tal-la, "if the
boy had been the son of one of the ordinary warriors like myself, but
he is not."

"Has he a distinguished father?" asked the wondering George.

"He is the son of Taggarak, our great war chief."

"I never dreamed of that," exclaimed the pleased Victor. "It surely
could not have happened better. How is it that he was braver than the
other boys and came into the lodge when all the others kept at a
distance?"

"That," said the Blackfoot significantly, "is because he is the son of
Taggarak and _knows it_. He can do nothing that can bring him
punishment, unless it comes from his father, and he does not punish him
unless he acts as if he is afraid of something."

"How many children has Taggarak?"

"Only two--the one whom you saw, who bears the same name as his father,
and another boy about half as old, who is Ap-pa-pa-alk. He promises to
grow up like his father and to become one of the greatest warriors
among all the Blackfeet."

"When the chief learns that Taggarak Junior and we have become frien