“He asked me that question four times; and each time I told him I believed in his power. Then he gave me his love-medicine for which I paid him a horse. He directed me to get a hair from my sweetheart’s head without her knowledge; I must twine it with one of my own hairs, and put them together in a little bag with the love-medicine and carry it everywhere.
“After that I came home to my tepee and did as the old man advised. I got a woman relative to steal one of my sweetheart’s hairs; I put it with one of mine in a little bag with the love-medicine; I wore it fastened about my neck; and because of its power my wife came back to me. She came one day to my lodge and said:
“ ‘You have some strange power over me; I cannot stay away any longer.’
“Then I told her she could remain with her father if she wished. But she would not leave me. She said some power was holding her. Now I will not release her. I still wear the love-charm of the Cree medicine man; and she has been my only woman ever since.” [[85]]
CHAPTER XI
THE HEAD-CHIEF AND HIS WIFE
White Calf, head-chief of the tribe, and Mad Wolf lived near each other on Cutbank River. They had been friends for many years. Mad Wolf secured his sacred Beaver Bundle from White Calf; and the ceremonies brought the two chiefs and their wives into close relations. Their families, too, were on intimate terms and continually visited each other. Dives-Under-Water, granddaughter of White Calf, and Anatapsa, granddaughter of Mad Wolf, were bosom companions; and the four stalwart sons of the head-chief, Wolf Tail, Cross Guns, Two Guns, and Night Gun came often to our camp.
White Calf was then over seventy. But, in spite of his years, he still stood erect; rode horseback and walked with brisk step. For nearly thirty years he had been head-chief and was a real father to his people. He was called upon to settle all manner of disputes; and to make peace with those who quarreled. He had a gentle and benevolent spirit, and his kindness of heart showed in his benign countenance. He gave freely to the poor and helped widows and orphans. He was brave in war, deliberate and sound of judgment. But his most prominent trait was his love for fellow tribesmen. All his life he strove for their welfare with an earnestness and devotion rarely equaled by rulers of civilized peoples. In the defense of his tribe, he had a sturdy earnestness and devotion which the bullying threats of United States Government officials could not sway.
I remember a band of Sioux Indians who came as visitors to our camp. They had been on the way for over a month[[86]]—a journey of more than six hundred miles over the arid plains. As soon as they arrived, our Indian agent ordered them home; he refused to allow them time to rest their tired horses.