He was thin and
exhausted, was blind of one eye, had a bad sore back, and one of his
forelegs was very much swollen. In fact, he was so worthless that none
of the Pawnees had been willing to take the trouble to try to drive him
along with them. But when the old woman and her boy came along, the boy
said, "Come now, we will take this old horse, for we can make him carry
our pack." So the old woman put her pack on the horse, and drove him
along, but he limped and could only go very slowly.
II
The tribe moved up on the North Platte, until they came to Court House
Rock. The two poor Indians followed them, and camped with the others.
One day while they were here, the young men who had been sent out to
look for buffalo, came hurrying into camp and told the chiefs that a
large herd of buffalo were near, and that among them was a spotted
calf.
The Head Chief of the Pawnees had a very beautiful daughter, and when he
heard about the spotted calf, he ordered his old crier to go about
through the village and call out that the man who killed the spotted
calf should have his daughter for his wife. For a spotted robe is
_ti-war'-uks-ti_--big medicine.
The buffalo were feeding about four miles from the village, and the
chiefs decided that the charge should be made from there. In this way,
the man who had the fastest horse would be the most likely to kill the
calf.
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