Now although Dusty Star was sure he hadn't done anything to make Goshmeelee angry, he was quick enough to see by the glint in her eyes that she was uneasy in her mind. So, he thought it could do no harm if he followed Lone-Chief's second piece of advice.
The "medicine" he made with his mouth was very curious. It consisted of all sorts of Indian words the like of which Goshmeelee had never heard in all her life before. The sound was very strange, yet she did not find it altogether unpleasant. A creature that could make a noise like this was certainly to be studied. So, in order to study more at her ease Goshmeelee sat down in front of Dusty Star, with her big black paws hanging in front of her, while she held her head first on one side and then on the other, in a comical kind of way.
Translated into our own language, this is the "medicine" which Dusty Star made:
"I am the Little Brother.
I am the Little Brother to all the Forest Folk.
But I am the Little Brother to Kiopo first of all.
The forest is very big, and has many ranges.
If it is big enough for me, it is big enough for you.
If I have got into your range, there's no occasion for you to fuss.
The Bears are a wise folk. They have a strong medicine.
When they are among the trees, they are in the middle of their medicine.
My folk live a long way back east, where the sun comes up out of the prairies.
They have a medicine which they make among the Lodges.
It is a strong medicine, and many birds and beasts have given it their power.
Our medicine-men make it in the moon when the Thunder-bird claps his wings in Heaven.
You cannot harm me, even if you wished it.
My medicine is stronger than your medicine of the Bears."
Dusty Star paused. All the time he had been making his "medicine," Goshmeelee, except for turning her head from one side to another in her droll way, had never moved. It is true that she did not understand a single word of what Dusty Star had said. In spite of that she was impressed. Somehow, or other, the power of the "medicine" had spelled itself out of the words and trickled into her head. She knew that this creature that owned the strange medicine was something she must not hurt. She also knew that he would not hurt her. But the babies! In her fierce mother-love, they mattered more than herself. On their account she was not quite satisfied.
How Dusty Star became aware that Goshmeelee had cubs, is one of the many mysteries. The forest is a place of hidden secrets. Yet sometimes the secrets get carried, like thistledown, on fine currents, and are passed from brain to brain. So, gradually, a light dawned on Dusty Star; and he knew. And in the same secret way, Goshmeelee knew that he knew, and also was aware that she need have no fear. As her mind was at rest, she allowed her body to be also. And in order to be completely at her ease, she sat down where she was widest, and looked at her new acquaintance with a humorous expression in her little gleaming eyes.
"It is a good place for them." Dusty Star remarked, after he had looked at Goshmeelee silently for some time.
By "Them" he referred, of course, to the cubs.
Goshmeelee simply blinked. But the blink was as good as if she had said:
"I, Goshmeelee, am a person of much wisdom. If I choose a place, I know what I am about. My children have everything which they require."