When all was ready, the leader of the Arapahoes threw down on the ground the bone they were to gamble with, and the leader of our young men threw down his bone, and then all the young men of both parties began to sing, and dance, and yell, each trying to bring luck to his side.  Some of them danced all around the lodge, singing as hard as they could sing.  After a time all sat down, and then one of the Arapahoes chose a man from his side, and called him out and told him to sit down in front of his line.  The leader took up the bone, and held it up to the sun, and to the four directions, praying that his side might win, and then handed it to this man, who let the robe fall back from his shoulders, rose to his knees, and after rubbing his hands on the ground, began to pass the bone from one hand to the other.  Then the leader of our party stood up, and looked over his men, to choose someone who was good at guessing.  He chose a man, and called him out in front of the line, to guess in which hand the Arapahoe held the bone.  Then everybody began to sing hard, and four young men pounded with sticks on a parfleche, in time to the music.  Presently our man guessed and guessed right.  Then our people chose a man to pass the bone for them, and when the Arapahoes guessed, they guessed wrong.  So it kept on.  The Arapahoes did not win one point, and our people won the game.  Then the Arapahoes would play no more, and the gambling stopped.  Afterward they had a dance.  It was now night.  I had heard the young men talking to one another, and I knew that they were about to start off to war.  After the dance was over, one of them said to the others, “Come, let us go about the camp to-night, and sing wolf songs.”  They did so, and I went with them.  Every little while they would stop in front of some lodge and sing; and perhaps the man who owned the lodge would fill a pipe, and hold it out to them, and all would smoke; or someone would hand out a bit of tobacco, or a few arrows, or five or six bullets, or some caps, or a little powder.  In this way they sang for a long time; and then, when they were tired, they went to the different lodges and slept.

The next morning I saw them making up the packs which they were to carry on their backs, and packing the dogs which they had with them to carry their moccasins.  I watched them, and as I looked at them I wished that I, too, might go to war; and the more I thought about it the more I wished to go.  At last I made up my mind that I would go.  I had no food, and no extra moccasins, but I looked about the camp, and found some that had been thrown away, worn out; and I asked one kind-hearted woman to give me some moccasins, and she gave me three pairs.  By this time the war party had started, and I followed them.