Indian fathers are just as proud of their little sons as white fathers are of theirs.

One day, a CROW Indian chief came in from the mountains, where he had been hunting and said to his little son: "Now, my little warrior, you are getting to be a big boy, you must grow up to be a big chief of your tribe. You must learn to shoot and be brave so that when you grow up, you will earn a name, and your people will love you."

The father gave his little son a tiny bow and some arrows, and taking him by the hand, called his little dog and went out to see what they could find to shoot at. Just outside of the tepees, were some bushes where the magpies had gathered and were chattering together, enjoying the beautiful sunshine.

Magpies are very inquisitive birds, and when they saw the little hunter, come along with his dog and his father, one of the little birds jumped down from the bush and hopped over to see what they were going to do.

The father thought this was a good chance for his boy, so he got down on the ground to instruct him. The little fellow shot, and do you know he killed one of those birds!

[Ill.u.s.tration: GAVE HIS LITTLE SON A TINY BOW.]

Then the father was just as proud as his little boy. The little fellow picked up the bird, and then off he started for home. His mother was sitting in the tepee making her little son a new pair of moccasins, and when he came in and threw the bird over for her to see, she was as much pleased as her boy, for soon he would be able to shoot rabbits and other game for her to cook for his dinner.

[Ill.u.s.tration: ABLE TO SHOOT RABBITS.]

[Ill.u.s.tration]

LITTLE BIRD, THE NAVAJO SHEPHERD BOY.

Little bird was a little NAVAJO boy, whose papa had given him a dear little pony, because he took such good care of the sheep.

When LITTLE BIRD went out with his papa's flock of sheep, he always took some goats along to help keep the flock together and drive off wolves or bears. LITTLE BIRD, on his pony's back, would watch, and the goats would climb on the rocks where they could see a long distance. One day, while they were watching, LITTLE BIRD fell asleep, on his pony's back. He didn't think there were any wolves or bears about; but soon he was dreaming that he heard the sheep making a great noise, and when he awoke, he saw that they were very much frightened and that the goats were marching toward the canon.

[Ill.u.s.tration]

[Ill.u.s.tration]

What do you think he saw? A great, black bear holding a dear little lamb in his arms.

[Ill.u.s.tration]

LITTLE BEAVER AND THE TAME CROWS.

One day as LITTLE BEAVER was playing on the prairie before his mother's tepee, he saw his father coming across an arroyo from a hunting trip he had taken. LITTLE BEAVER looked very intently, for on top of one of the pack horses, he saw two black things flapping their wings.

As soon as his father had got home and the things were unpacked, he said, "Come, my little warrior, I want to tell you a story." As soon as his little boy was on his knees he said: "While I was riding through the woods, I heard something say, 'Caw, Caw.' At first, I didn't see where it was and then I wished I had my little bright-eyed boy, for he could see. By and by it said 'Caw, Caw,' again and then, looking up, I saw an old mother crow standing on a limb, with a little crow on each side of her. I shot the mother and then climbed the tree and captured these two little crows and brought them home to my boy."

LITTLE BEAVER was very much pleased, and he used to play a great deal with these two new pets.

[Ill.u.s.tration]

Not long after, when the crows had grown quite big and mischievous, LITTLE BEAVER sat outside of the tepee on the ground, to eat some dinner. The crows saw him and came running over to him. While LITTLE BEAVER tried to frighten one away the other would try to steal his meat and they kept it up quite a while until the little boy whipped them away. Then the crows felt very mournful to think they had been beaten, and walked away with their heads drooping, as if they knew enough to be ashamed of what they had tried to do.

[Ill.u.s.tration]

[Ill.u.s.tration]

BRIGHT-EYES AND HIS PUMA KITTENS.

Indian boys have very queer pets; they capture bear cubs, puma or mountain lion kittens, and various other young animals of the forest and tame them. The boys like to play with these strange pets, as much as little white boys love to play with puppies or kittens.

Some Indian boys, just like the white boys, enjoy teasing their pets, which is very wrong as it makes the animals very angry, and often the boys are punished beyond their expectation for their naughtiness.

BRIGHT-EYES was a little p.a.w.nEE boy, who had two pretty little puma kittens, of which he was very proud, and when he did not tease or make them angry they would let him fondle and caress them just as you would a kitten.

[Ill.u.s.tration: SOME INDIAN BOYS ENJOY TEASING THEIR PETS.]

One day BRIGHT-EYES was sitting on a blanket under a tree playing with his kittens, when two of his friends came along. He asked them to stop and they did, because BRIGHT-EYES seemed to be having such a good time with his pets.

The other boys did not play as gently as BRIGHT-EYES had done, and began teasing the kittens. They became very angry and wild. They scratched at the boys and tried to bite them, and if BRIGHT-EYES had been alone he would have fared very badly because he could not have beaten his wild pets off, but the other boys were older and they succeeded in quieting them enough to lead them away and tie them up.

The kittens never trusted BRIGHT-EYES again as they did before, and the little fellow felt very sad. His father did not trust him with his pets either, and after that always kept the kittens tied even though BRIGHT-EYES promised not to make them angry any more.

[Ill.u.s.tration]

[Ill.u.s.tration]

HODGSKA MAKES A VISIT.

I will tell you of a little red boy going visiting, and perhaps you can fancy why he liked it so much.

One day a CROW Indian mother called her little boy, HODGSKA, and told him to get dressed and she would take him to see his grandfather.

HODGSKA was delighted. He came running in, and his mother put a pretty red breech-clout on him, braided his hair neatly, and then painted the part in his hair red, and HODGSKA was ready to start.

[Ill.u.s.tration: HAD TO PULL UP HIS FEET TO KEEP HIS MOCCASINS DRY.]

The horses were all ready, too. The mother's saddle was all decorated with bright colored flannel and pretty bead work, and HODGSKA had a bright blanket thrown over his horse's back. The mother rode in front because she had to lead the way. They followed an old trail for awhile, and HODGSKA was disappointed because he didn't think that was fun. Then off in the distance he saw a river, and oh how he wished they would have to cross it!

HODGSKA was delighted when they really started to cross. In splashed the horses, and the water kept getting deeper and deeper until it came so high that the little boy had to pull up his feet to keep his moccasins dry.

After the river had been forded they had to climb over a mountain, and HODGSKA was glad he had brought his bow and arrows because he might be able to shoot something to take to his grandfather. They rode very quietly, and little HODGSKA tried to ride especially quiet because he knew if he made much noise he would frighten the game. Soon he heard a little noise in the brush and looking over he saw two pretty deer, but they saw him, too, and ran off just as fast as they could.