“One day the son-in-law called as usual in the early morning: ‘Hurry up, old man, let us go and run the buffalo.’ They went together and hunted. As was his custom, the young man sent his father-in-law to drive the buffalo and do all the hard work, while he himself sat still. Now it happened that the old man walked alone in a buffalo trail. He saw a clot of blood which a wounded animal had coughed up. He said to himself: ‘Here is something we can make into soup.’ But [[94]]he was afraid of his son-in-law; so he pretended to stumble and spilled the arrows from his quiver. Then he picked them up and put in quickly that clot of blood, placing his arrows on top. But the son-in-law was suspicious and said:
“ ‘Old man, what were you doing so long in that buffalo trail? What did you pick up there?’
“ ‘I fell and spilled my arrows,’ said he. ‘I was only putting them back into my quiver.’
“ ‘Go home and tell the women to come out,’ answered the son-in-law sharply.
“Then the old man went back to the camp and told his daughters their husband needed help with the meat. And the son-in-law kept all the food for himself. He gave nothing to the old people.
“When the old man got back to his own tepee, he said: ‘Old woman, make the fire ready and the stone pot. To-day we have something to eat.’ And he took the clot of blood from his quiver. ‘Make haste,’ said he, ‘that we may eat before our son-in-law comes back.’
“Then his old woman hurried to put the clot of blood into the pot; and, when the water began to boil, they heard a child crying. It seemed to come from their pot. They looked in quickly and saw a baby. The old woman took the pot from the fire and lifted the child up. She said to her husband: ‘It is a boy baby.’ And he said: ‘Old woman, take him out. By means of him we shall live.’ So she wrapped up the baby and cared for him.
“When the son-in-law came home with the meat, he heard a child crying. He said to his youngest wife: ‘The old woman must have a baby. Go over to their tepee and see. If it is a boy, I shall kill him; if a girl, I shall let her live.’
“Now the youngest wife was the only one of the three daughters who cared for their parents. She went to their tepee and asked: ‘What is the child? My husband wants to know.’ [[95]]
“And the old man said to her: ‘It is a boy, but you must tell him it is a girl.’