“‘Now what is this?’ the woman thought; ’why does this person sit in the medicine circle?’

“She said to him:  ’You know that is the medicine circle.  Quick! get up, and sit down somewhere else.  My husband will be angry if he sees you there.’

“The person did not speak nor move, so the woman got up and put grass on the fire, and when it made a light, she saw that the man was a stranger, for his clothing was different from ours; but she could not see his face; he kept it covered, all but his eyes.  The woman went out and ran to the lodge where her husband was, and said to him:  ’Come quickly!  A stranger has entered our lodge.  He is sitting in the medicine circle.’

“The chief went to his lodge, and many with him—­for chiefs and warriors had been feasting together—­and they carried in more wood and built a big fire.  Then the stranger moved toward the fire, nearer and nearer, and they saw he was shaking with cold.  His moccasins and leggings were torn and covered with ice, and his robe was thin and worn.

“The chief was greatly troubled to see this person sitting in his medicine circle, and he asked him in signs, ‘Where did you come from?’

“He made no answer.

“Again he asked, ‘Who are you?’

“The stranger did not speak.  He sat as close to the fire as he could get, still shivering with cold.

“The chief told a woman to feed him; and she warmed some soup and meat over the fire, and set it before the stranger.  Then he threw off his robe, and began to eat like a dog that is starved; and all the people sat and looked at him.  He was a young man; his face was good, and his hair very long; but he looked thin, and his clothes were poor.

“The stranger ate all the soup and meat, and then he spoke, in signs:  ’I came from the north.  I was with a large party.  We traveled south many days, and at last saw a big camp by a river.  At night we went down to it, to take horses, but I got none, and my party rode off and left me.  They told me to go with them and they would give me some of the horses that they had taken, but I was ashamed.  I had taken no horses, and I could not go back to my people without counting a coup.  So I came on alone, and it is now many days since I left my party.  I had used up all my arrows, and could kill no food.  I began to starve.  To-day I saw your camp.  I thought to take some horses from you, but my arrows are gone; I should have starved on the road.  My clothes are thin and torn; I should have frozen.  So I made up my mind to come to your camp and be killed.

“‘Come, I am ready.  Kill me!  I am a Blackfoot.’

“A pipe was filled, lighted, and passed around.  But the chief sat thinking.  Everyone was waiting to hear what he would say.

“At last he spoke:  ’An enemy has come into our camp.  The Blackfeet are our enemies.  They kill us when they can.  We kill them.  This man came here to steal our horses, and he ought to be killed.  But, you see, he has come into my lodge and sat down in the medicine circle.  Perhaps his medicine led him to the place.  He must have a powerful helper.