Little Bear thought of the Sioux hunting party riding upstream on their own side of the river.
“Shouldn’t we warn our hunters?” he asked.
“If they have scouts ahead and a sentinel behind as we agreed,” Grandfather explained, “they can’t be surprised.”
When they were well back from the river, Great Bear stopped. He took Little Bear’s bow and aimed an arrow at a sapling about twenty paces away. Little Bear watched closely. Great Bear pulled the bow string back and let the arrow fly. There was a sharp thud as the arrow struck. It split the sapling in two. Grandfather handed the bow to Little Bear.
“Put an arrow in that sapling next to the one I hit,” he directed.
The other sapling was larger than the one Great Bear had hit. Little Bear had used a bow and arrow before. He had owned a small bow as long as he could remember. This large bow was better made than his small one and would shoot much straighter. He fitted an arrow to the string and aimed just as Grandfather had done. He fired for the sapling. The arrow whizzed past it.
“I missed,” he exclaimed disappointedly.
“That was close,” Grandfather encouraged him. “Let’s get the arrows and you can try again.”
It took some time to find the arrow Little Bear had shot. When they did find it, he started practicing again. Grandfather watched him and showed him better ways of holding the bow and taking aim. Although few of Little Bear’s arrows hit the sapling, most of them came close.
“Practice every time you have a chance,” Great Bear advised. “You are doing very well.”