ld Raymond to fry in buffalo-fat what little flour we
had left, and also to make a kettle of tea as an additional item of the
repast.

The Big Crow's squaw was set briskly at work sweeping out the lodge for
the approaching festivity. I confided to my host himself the task of
inviting the guests, thinking that I might thereby shift from my own
shoulders the odium of fancied neglect and oversight.

When feasting is in question, one hour of the day serves an Indian as
well as another. My entertainment came off about eleven o'clock. At that
hour, Reynal and Raymond walked across the area of the village, to the
admiration of the inhabitants, carrying the two kettles of dog-meat
slung on a pole between them. These they placed in the center of the
lodge, and then went back for the bread and the tea. Meanwhile I had put
on a pair of brilliant moccasins, and substituted for my old buckskin
frock a coat which I had brought with me in view of such public
occasions. I also made careful use of the razor, an operation which no
man will neglect who desires to gain the good opinion of Indians. Thus
attired, I seated myself between Reynal and Raymond at the head of the
lodge. Only a few minutes elapsed before all the guests had come in and
were seated on the ground, wedged together in a close circle around
the lodge. Each brought with him a wooden bowl to hold his share of the
repast. When all were assembled, two of the officials called "soldiers"
by the white men, came forward with ladles made of the horn of the Rocky
Mountain sheep, and began to distribute the feast, always assigning
a double share to the old men and chiefs. The dog vanished with
astonishing celerity, and each guest turned his dish bottom upward to
show that all was gone. Then the bread was distributed in its turn,
and finally the tea. As the soldiers poured it out into the same wooden
bowls that had served for the substantial part of the meal, I thought it
had a particularly curious and uninviting color.

"Oh!" said Reynal, "there was not tea enough, so I stirred some soot in
the kettle, to make it look strong."

Fortunately an Indian's palate is not very discriminating. The tea was
well sweetened, and that was all they cared for.

Now the former part of the entertainment being concluded, the time for
speech-making was come. The Big Crow produced a flat piece of wood
on which he cut up tobacco and shongsasha, and mixed them in due
proportions. The pipes were fil