"Yes," muttered the old woman, inspecting the bit of dried meat that swung over the fire on a crotched stick, the other end of which was thrust into the ground, "this time we need not fear, for the white men have fled far away."

As she spoke, she sliced off some hot meat and placed it in a dish made from the bark of a tree. Songbird seated herself on the ground. On mats of woven gra.s.s were ladles of wild gourds, spoons fashioned from buffalo horns, shallow baskets woven of fine gra.s.s, and bowls made of red clay.

There were sharp utensils made of flint rocks or of crude metal to cut the food, if necessary, but mostly the breakfast consisted of pounded berries and nuts, and the freshly roasted meat, with a mushy substance prepared from maize.

This was a kind of corn grown by the Indians, and when dry it was soaked in lye made from wood ashes, to remove the tough outer skin. Then the squaws placed it in a hollowed stone, and with a round flat stone that fitted closely into the cavity they worked and pounded until there was a fine powder. The food was ready to be eaten at once, either dry or moistened with water, and was very nourishing.

After breakfast, Songbird was free to roam where she pleased until such time as her father and his men should return from the big buffalo hunt on which they had started ten days before.

She had not told any one of her plan to slip away and ride out to meet her father. So without loss of time she reached Star where he was grazing among other ponies that had not been taken on the hunt.

When Star saw the rawhide rope in her hand, he lowered his head quickly, so that she could slip the noose across his nose and back of his ears.

He was glad of a chance to run that morning, for the sun was so bright, the air so bracing, the gra.s.s so soft and green and the sky so blue, as he galloped across the rolling prairie with his little mistress on his back.

Chapter XIV

Several miles from the village, Songbird saw the hunting party coming toward her, and she dug her heels sharply into Star's side to urge him faster on the way. Star did not need pushing, for he knew that Quannah was riding Running Deer. The greeting between the colt and his mother was as affectionate as that between the father and daughter.

Side by side Star and his mother loped happily, while Songbird chattered to her father, who looked at her with loving pride as she sat gracefully on her pony's back, her cheeks pink from the touch of the breeze and her excitement showing in her dark, glowing eyes.

Back of Quannah and his little daughter rode the warriors, leading ponies laden with antelope and buffalo meat, while still other ponies carried rolled buffalo hides.

The meat that had been obtained on the hunt would be cut into thin strips and dried in the sun. This would preserve it for use without any danger of its spoiling, and the robes would be tanned and used for many purposes. No lack of food or warm robes need be feared now, and where the tepees needed mending it could be done without trouble. The extra robes would be exchanged by the Quahadas for articles which they might desire from some other tribe, or even traded for more ponies.

So there was much rejoicing when the hunting party reached the village an hour later, and preparations were rushed for a great celebration. In addition to the successful hunt it was time for the Festival of the Green Corn. This was the Quahada Thanksgiving Day, when they thanked the Great Spirit for an abundance of maize and other necessities of their daily lives.

Songbird, turning Star loose, wandered about the camp and watched the squaws at work. Children ran from their tepees to the place where the camp fires had been built. Each family had a separate fire for the celebration, and when everything was ready big bunches of corn were carried by each to the special family fire, where the squaws roasted the ears of maize.

While they were doing this the men formed in a large circle about the fires. The Medicine Man, Karolo, and Quannah, with Gray Beard, Spotted Leopard, and Big Wolf, were in the centre. The other men who formed the circle danced around the chiefs, and as they danced they shouted the Song of the Green Corn. This was accompanied by monotonous music made by the pounding with dry buffalo bones on skins tightly drawn over hoops of bent wood.

When the dancing was over, the men all sat down close together, while Karolo spoke to them and made a prayer of thanksgiving to the Great Spirit. Each of the chiefs spoke after him. Then Karolo walked around the circle of little fires and lifting his hands above each heap of roasted corn, he blessed it.

After he had blessed all the corn, the Quahadas, men, women, and children, began to eat it, talking and laughing or calling across to one another as they enjoyed the feast that the Great Spirit had provided and blessed through Karolo.

The children listened to the talk of their elders as they sat beside the fires after the feast. There were stories of brave deeds, tales of mighty hunters, and then all were silent as Moko related the story of how the buffaloes were sent to the Comanches. Moko was not only the Picture Maker of the Quahadas, but also the Story Teller. It was through the Story Teller of the tribe that the younger people knew of those who had gone to the Happy Hunting Grounds long before the grandparents of old Moko had been born. And Moko was the oldest living person among the Quahadas. So all of them, young and old, men and women, listened respectfully as she spoke.

"So many moons ago it happened, that the Indians cannot count them now,"

she said, poking the ashes with a long stick. "The Sun Spirit, angered because the Thunder Bird had flown across the sky day after day, made a trap and caught him. So the Sun held the Thunder Bird captive that it might not fly across the sky and make shadows with its great black wings. Because of this there was no rain and the earth grew thirsty.

Then the gra.s.s died and the young corn shrivelled away.

"The ponies grew thin and weak, the streams shrank to small threads of water and many of them became dry sand. The antelopes moved away or died because there was no gra.s.s, and though the Medicine Man planted his prayer-sticks and begged the Great Spirit to help his children, the Great Spirit did not listen to his voice.

"Then a young man of the Quahadas, and his wife, knowing that their people would starve, wandered away together, hand in hand, to seek the Great Spirit and offer him their own lives for the sake of their people with whom the Great Spirit was angry.

"For three days before they started neither of them had eaten even a mouthful of maize, nor had they taken any water, so that there might be more left for the others who were not so strong as they were.

"Across the desert of hot sand that burned like fire against their bare feet, they two wandered alone. For many days they found nothing but heat, thirst, and hunger, and often they lay down on the scorching sand, too weak to go farther. But when they had rested a few minutes, they remembered their people, and so they rose wearily and continued their search for the Great Spirit.

"And one day the Great Spirit, who had been watching them all the time, appeared before them and said that because he had seen their great love and pity and knew that their own sufferings had not made them weaken in their search for him, their prayers would be answered, and the sacrifice of their lives was not desired by him. He touched the dry sand, and a stream of clear water ran past their feet, so they fell upon the sand and thanked the Great Spirit. Then they laid their lips in the cool ripples, and drank their fill.

"As they arose they saw food before them and many strange beautiful fruits, which the Great Spirit bade them eat. Then he told them of the Sun Dance and how the big Sun Lodge must be built, and how the chiefs and the Medicine Men could vanquish the Spirit of the Sun when it held the Thunder Bird captive.

"After they had eaten and had thanked the Great Spirit, they promised to do as he bade them. Then the man and the woman returned rejoicing of their people and gave the message to them.

"And the Quahadas obeyed the Great Spirit, and made a prisoner of the Sun, so the Thunder Bird was free. Then it stretched its broad wings and flew swiftly over the land. The rain fell from the black feather tips until the land was flooded and the gra.s.s leaped up, the flowers bloomed, the antelopes returned, the ponies of the Quahadas grew fat and strong and the whole tribe rejoiced because the Great Spirit smiled upon them and their children.

"One day they saw a great black ma.s.s like a thunder cloud sweeping across the prairie close to the ground. As it drew nearer they saw that it was not a cloud, but a vast herd of strange, big, black animals, such as none of them had ever seen before, and of which no one had ever told them or their forefathers. Then the Quahadas hid their faces, for they heard the voice of the Great Spirit speaking from the sky.

"Because you have obeyed me, my anger has pa.s.sed away and I give you this new food. Kill these buffaloes when you need meat, when you need clothes, when you need tepees. These are all mine and I give them to you, my children. You must take only what you need. If you slay them when you have enough food, clothes, robes, or tepees, I will take all the buffaloes away, and I will also take from you again the gra.s.s and water."

"So the buffaloes were given to the Indians; and we must never forget the words of the Great Spirit as he spoke to our forefathers that day, many, many moons ago. So many moons that none of us can count them now!"

Shaking her white head and muttering to herself, old Moko went to her tepee, and Songbird, with the other children, sat watching the games played by the men and women.

Some of the men held arrows, which they tossed while other men threw their own arrows to try to stop the flight of the first arrow as it went swiftly past. It required great skill and a keen eye to measure the flight of the arrow and break it.

Other men, holding netted bats, like tennis rackets, played with a ball and kept it moving between them for a long time. The players had to keep the ball from falling to the ground and the rule was that if any man touched the ball with his hand, he must leave the game and pay a fine.

The younger men wrestled in pairs, each one striving to throw the other to the ground and hold him down until Big Wolf, Spotted Leopard, or Gray Beard had decided which one was the winner.

Little Songbird, sitting among the other children, cracked nuts between stones, and with a sharp, stout cactus thorn picked out the meats and ate them, until at last, too tired to keep her eyes open any longer, she curled herself on a buffalo robe and went to sleep.

So soundly she slept that she did not awaken, even when her father found her and carried her to their tepee home.

Chapter XV

The women of the Quahada village were very busy for weeks after the return of the buffalo hunters and the Festival of the Green Corn. Not only did they have their usual duties to perform, but in addition they had to preserve the meat and tan the hides of the buffaloes and antelopes that had been brought back by the men.

The children helped cut the meat into long, thin pieces so that it could be hung in the hot sun until the outer part was dry and hard. It was then tied together with bits of buckskin or dried sinews and stored away for future use. Thus prepared it could be eaten without further cooking, or carried by the Comanches from place to place. Often, as they rode along, they ate the meat without stopping for other food. With this and a little pounded maize, or a bit of dry vegetable root, they were able to travel many days.

The big skins had to be cured at once, lest they spoil. So while the children were cutting the meat, the women staked all the hides on the ground, fur side down. Then two women took charge of each hide.

Songbird did not help the other children cut the meat, but she watched the squaws who bent over a very large hide which Quannah had brought home. The women were busy sc.r.a.ping off all the tiny bits of flesh that still clung to the inner surface, using flat, sharp-edged bones, while a thong of buckskin around their wrists gave extra strength to their efforts. She was greatly interested in that robe, for when it had been thoroughly cured Moko was going to paint on it the picture of the big fight.

"Let me help," she begged the women.

But they shook their heads and answered, "It is Quannah's robe. We must be very careful of it."

Then Songbird ran to where her father was standing not far away from his tepee and looked wistfully into his face.

"Let me help the women cure the big robe you brought," she pleaded. "I will be very careful not to hurt it. I cannot fight, nor hunt, nor paint stories, but I want to help with the robe because you brought it back, and Moko is going to paint the picture of your big fight with the white men."