Chapter XIII
Songbird awakened early one morning and lost no time getting into hermoccasins and buckskin dress. Then she braided her hair and fastened itwith bits of red string.
Aided by one of the older squaws, she set the tepee in order for theday. The home of the Quahada Chief, though larger than other dwellingsin the big village, was built like the rest.
A circular framework of poles had been erected to form a peak where theyjoined near the top. There were twenty poles made of hewn cedar trees.The poles were lashed together by hide ropes, then firmly sewed buffaloskins, stretched tautly over them, were pegged solidly to the hardground. But an opening at the top of the tepee permitted the ends of thepoles to protrude.
In the centre of Songbird's home was a fire, arranged so that the smokewould pass through the opening at the top of the tepee. On either sideof this pit hung skins on crude frames. By moving these screens thesmoke from the fire pit could be controlled when the wind shifted, thusmaking an inside chimney which carried off the smoke but allowed thewarmth to spread in the tepee. Near the fire crotched sticks supported apole on which clothes, robes, or moccasins could be hung when wet.
The doors or openings of all the tepees in the village faced the east,and were closed by flaps of buffalo hides on frames which enabled themto be lifted easily, yet which stayed in place during bad weather.
Two beds, or seats, were arranged inside the dwelling. One at a side,the other at the back. These beds were merely slightly raised platformson which many soft robes had been thrown. But there were pillows ofbuckskin stuffed with the feathers of wild turkeys, geese, or ducks,mixed with long, soft hair cut from buffalo hides.
Decorated skins hung slanting from the centre of the room across andover the two beds, so that any water would be drained from the smokehole in rainy weather, and thus the fire was protected, as well as thebeds. The entire inside of the tepees had been painted by Moko indesigns of queer characters, or pictures of Comanches hunting orfighting.
Mats of woven bark and plaited rushes lay on the smooth, hard dirtfloor. A border of interwoven twigs around the two beds kept cold draftsaway in winter. During the summer the edges of the tepee were lifted andtied, thus allowing the breeze full sway.
Songbird was very proud of her home as she bustled around, sweeping theearth floor with her broom made of coarse grass and twigs. Then with thewing of a wild turkey, she carefully brushed the scattered ashes to thecentre of the fire-pit. Her father's best saddle hung on a post, and onanother was his big shield made of toughened buffalo hide.
She stood looking at the shield, for it was beautifully painted, and afringe of buckskin bordered it all around. The buffalo hide had beenshrunken over fire to make it twice as tough and thick as originally.Moko had told her about the important ceremony which took place when anew shield was made, and how the Medicine Man blessed it, so that itwould protect the warrior who carried it.
She had also told how the Quahadas in battle formed long lines, and theother Indians who were enemies made a line opposite. After that, onewarrior rode out alone. Holding his shield high in the air, andbalancing his long lance, he challenged his foes to send a warrior tomeet him in single battle between the two lines of Indians.
Then the other Indians sent their best fighter, and the two tribeswaited as the horsemen dashed toward each other, their ponies' manes andlong tails flying while the silver mountings on their bridles clinked.The warriors leaning forward, with war bonnets of tall feathers thattrailed almost to the ground, met in a crash, and then if the spear werenot of tough wood, or the shield were not strong and tightly stretched,the tribe of the wounded warrior was humiliated as their champion fellfrom his pony.
No lance had ever pierced Quannah's shield, though he had met the foesof his tribes many times. But Songbird, small as she was, knew that thewhite men did not fight with lances and shields. Moko had said that thefire-sticks would tear the best shield the Quahadas could make, and thatthe men with the fire-sticks could stand far away yet kill the Quahadawarriors before the Indians could reach their white foes.
"They will come back to-day." The old squaw, who was puttering among thecooking utensils at the back of the tent, spoke. "May the Great Spiritgrant they bring much meat, for our dried meat must be cured before thedays grow wet and cold."
"I have two prayer-sticks," answered Songbird, proudly pointing atlittle sticks fastened by cactus thorns to the wall of the tepee. "Theywill bring my father and his warriors back to us safely with all themeat and robes that are needed."
The little sticks, about as long as the hand of a grown man, weredecorated with feathers, and other objects were attached by strings ofbuckskin. The feathers, from the breast of an eagle, were called "breathfeather," for when the prayers were offered to the Great Spirit for anywarrior, the "breath feather" carried it to the Great Spirit and thewarrior was protected. Songbird knew that Karolo, the Medicine Man, hadmoistened the prayer-sticks with wonderful medicine, and that he hadsprinkled them with sacred pollen. Karolo had given the prayer-sticks toSongbird to comfort her when she was alone.
"Yes," muttered the old woman, inspecting the bit of dried meat thatswung over the fire on a crotched stick, the other end of which wasthrust into the ground, "this time we need not fear, for the white menhave fled far away."
As she spoke, she sliced off some hot meat and placed it in a dish madefrom the bark of a tree. Songbird seated herself on the ground. On matsof woven grass were ladles of wild gourds, spoons fashioned from buffalohorns, shallow baskets woven of fine grass, and bowls made of red clay.
There were sharp utensils made of flint rocks or of crude metal to cutthe food, if necessary, but mostly the breakfast consisted of poundedberries and nuts, and the freshly roasted meat, with a mushy substanceprepared from maize.
This was a kind of corn grown by the Indians, and when dry it was soakedin lye made from wood ashes, to remove the tough outer skin. Then thesquaws placed it in a hollowed stone, and with a round flat stone thatfitted closely into the cavity they worked and pounded until there was afine powder. The food was ready to be eaten at once, either dry ormoistened with water, and was very nourishing.
After breakfast, Songbird was free to roam where she pleased until suchtime as her father and his men should return from the big buffalo hunton which they had started ten days before.
She had not told any one of her plan to slip away and ride out to meether father. So without loss of time she reached Star where he wasgrazing among other ponies that had not been taken on the hunt.
When Star saw the rawhide rope in her hand, he lowered his head quickly,so that she could slip the noose across his nose and back of his ears.He was glad of a chance to run that morning, for the sun was so bright,the air so bracing, the grass so soft and green and the sky so blue, ashe galloped across the rolling prairie with his little mistress on hisback.
Star: The Story of an Indian Pony Page 14