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"Yes," Tamedokah quietly replied, "I thought I would do something to beat the story of the man who rode a young elk, and yelled frantically for help, crying like a woman." "Ugh! that was only a legend," retorted Matogee, for it was he who was the hero of this tale in his younger days. "But this is a fresh feat of to-day.
By this time the teepee was packed to overflowing. Loud laughter had been heard issuing from the lodge of Matogee, and everybody suspected that he had something good, so many had come to listen. "I think we should hear the whole matter," said one of the late comers.
"It was a singular mishap," admitted Tamedokah. The pipe had been filled by Matogee and passed to Tamedokah good-naturedly, still with a broad smile on his face. "It must be acknowledged," he resumed, "that you have the strongest kind of a grip, for no one else could hold on as long as you did, and secure such a trophy besides. That tail will do for an eagle feather holder."
The teepee was brightly lit by the burning embers, and all the men were sitting with their knees up against their chests, held in that position by wrapping their robes tightly around loins and knees. This fixed them something in the fashion of a rocking-chair. "Well, no one saw him except Chankpayuhah," Matogee remarked. "Yes, yes, he must tell us about it," exclaimed a chorus of voices.
Again the chorus of appreciation from his hearers. "The strangest thing about this affair of mine," spoke up Tamedokah, "is that I dreamed the whole thing the night before." "There are some dreams come true, and I am a believer in dreams," one remarked. "Yes, certainly, so are we all. You know Hachah almost lost his life by believing in dreams," commented Matogee.
He only succeeded in grasping the tail of the deer, and was pulled about all over the meadows and the adjacent woods until the tail came off in his hands. Matogee thought this too good a joke to be lost. I sat near the door of the tent, and thoroughly enjoyed the story of the comical accident.
At last he silently returned the pipe to Matogee, with whom it had begun its rounds. I was with him. It was by a very little that he saved his life. I will tell you how it happened. "I was hunting with these two men, Nageedah and Chadozee. We came to some wild cherry bushes. I began to eat of the fruit when I saw a large silver-tip crawling toward us.
That would be an unpardonable breach of etiquette. "Tamedokah, I heard that you tried to capture a buck by holding on to his tail," said Matogee, laughing. "I believe that feat cannot be performed any more; at least, it never has been since the pale-face brought us the knife, the 'mysterious iron, and the pulverized coal that makes bullets fly.
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