THE BAD WIFE

I

There was once a man who had but one wife.  He was not a chief, but a very brave warrior.  He was rich, too, so he could have had plenty of wives if he wished; but he loved his wife very much, and did not want any more.  He was very good to this woman.  She always wore the best clothes that could be found.  If any other woman had a fine buckskin dress, or something very pretty, the man would buy it for her.

It was summer.  The berries were ripe, and the woman kept saying to her husband, “Let us go and pick some berries for winter.”  “No,” replied the man.  “It is dangerous now.  The enemy is travelling all around.”  But still the woman kept teasing him to go.  So one day he told her to get ready.  Some other women went, too.  They all went on horseback, for the berries were a long way from camp.  When they got to the place, the man told the women to keep near their horses all the time.  He would go up on a butte near by and watch.  “Be careful,” he said.  “Keep by your horses, and if you see me signal, throw away your berries, get on your horses and ride towards camp as fast as you can.”

They had not picked many berries before the man saw a war party coming.  He signalled the women, and got on his horse and rode towards them.  It happened that this man and his wife both had good horses, but the others, all old women, rode slow old travois horses, and the enemy soon overtook and killed them.  Many kept on after the two on good horses, and after a while the woman’s horse began to get tired; so she asked her husband to let her ride on his horse with him.  The woman got up behind him, and they went on again.  The horse was a very powerful one, and for a while went very fast; but two persons make a heavy load, and soon the enemy began to gain on them.  The man was now in a bad plight; the enemy were overtaking him, and the woman holding him bound his arms so that he could not use his bow.

“Get off,” he said to her.  “The enemy will not kill you.  You are too young and pretty.  Some one of them will take you, and I will get a big party of our people and rescue you.”

“No, no,” cried the woman; “let us die here together.”

“Why die?” cried the man.  “We are yet young, and may live a long time together.  If you don’t get off, they will soon catch us and kill me, and then they will take you anyhow.  Get off, and in only a short time I will get you back.”

“No, no,” again cried the woman; “I will die here with you.”

“Crazy person!” cried the man, and with a quick jerk he threw the woman off.

As he said, the enemy did not kill her.  The first one who came up counted coup and took her.  The man, now that his horse was lightened, easily ran away from the war party, and got safe to camp.

II