“Time passed. The boy grew up to be a fine young man; good of heart and of fine appearance; and at last Heavy Runner’s woman loved him as though he were her own son. But in one thing he was very different from the other young men of the camp: he made no close friends, and when not needed by Heavy Runner he wandered much by himself. Excepting his sister, whom he frequently took for long walks, he had little to say to any one, and so the people, all but she and his foster parents, continued to believe him crazy.
“One evening he said to Heavy Runner: ‘Tell me. What must one do to become a chief?’
“‘One must be very brave, must be fearless when facing the enemy, and of very kind heart; full of pity for the poor and the old and the sick, and always anxious to help them,’ the chief replied.
“‘Well, I want to become a chief. What is the first thing for me to do?’ he asked.
“‘The first thing to do is to go to some far and dangerous place, and get your medicine. That is, something that will make you favored by the gods, and bring you good luck in battle, and in all matters of life,’ Heavy Runner told him.
“‘That I shall do,’ said the young man, ‘but, first, will you not call in the chiefs, and the medicine men and braves, and let me hear from them where they went, and what they did to get their medicine? I shall then have a better idea of what I am to do.’
“‘We will have in our lodge full of them,’ Heavy Runner said. And the next morning he shouted out invitations for a smoke, asking only the great of the tribe to come to it. They came, filling the lodge, and then, when the pipe was going the round of the circle, he told why he had invited them to the smoke; asked them to give their experiences in their search for medicines.
“One after another they told their adventures; where they went; what they did; what they saw; what narrow escapes from death they had. And at last it came Spotted Bear’s turn. But he refused to give his experience.
“‘What,’ he cried, ‘tell that crazy youth about my adventure? Why, I wouldn’t waste my breath on him!’
“‘But he is a poor boy; he wants to know; you might tell it him in a short way,’ pleaded Heavy Runner.