“Thank you, Clawing Bear,” Little Eagle said aloud, when he saw that the wound was no longer bleeding.
It wasn’t until he had finished caring for Angry Wolf that Little Eagle realized how hungry he was. He had eaten nothing since he and Angry Wolf had shared that small piece of meat the evening before. The thought of venison steak made his mouth water. He had seen the place where deer came to the stream to drink. However, he was afraid to leave Angry Wolf long enough to stalk a deer. Tonight some small game—a rabbit or a squirrel—would have to do.
Little Eagle picked up his bow and arrow. He remembered that the water sacks were empty, so he tied them to his belt. He had seen squirrels in some of the trees between here and the creek. He kept watch of the trees as he walked along. When he saw a pair of squirrels running along the limb of a tree, he stopped. Slowly he brought his bow up. The moment one of the squirrels stopped, Little Eagle let an arrow fly. He grinned to himself as the squirrel dropped from the tree with an arrow through its head. Perhaps the next time he was in a shooting match he would win a prize.
At the creek Little Eagle filled the water bags. He skinned and dressed the squirrel and washed it in the stream.
When he returned to Angry Wolf, Little Eagle put water into the cooking bowl and set it on the fire. He cut the squirrel into small pieces and dropped them into the bowl. As the first tantalizing odors of cooking meat rose from the bowl, he was tempted to take one of the pieces and eat it before it was done. To keep himself busy while the meat was cooking, he found a small stick. He pulled the bark from it and scraped off the loose fiber.
He waited until he was sure the meat was thoroughly cooked before he lifted the bowl from the fire. He set the steaming bowl close to Angry Wolf. Little Eagle dipped the stick into the bowl, then held it so the broth dropped onto Angry Wolf’s lips. Angry Wolf opened his mouth and swallowed the drops hungrily. Patiently, Little Eagle dipped the stick into the broth and let the broth fall into Angry Wolf’s mouth.
When he had given Angry Wolf all of the broth he could dip out with the stick, Little Eagle ate the meat. By the time he had finished, the sun was down. Already the air was becoming chilly. He considered building the fire up so that Angry Wolf would be kept warm. Because a fire could be seen a long distance at night, he decided against that plan. He covered the fire with dirt. In order to keep Angry Wolf as warm as possible, Little Eagle gathered more leaves and dumped them over the wounded Sioux.
Little Eagle gathered a smaller pile of leaves for himself. It was scarcely dark when he snuggled down into the leaves. He fell asleep while he was still trying to get into a more comfortable position.
