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Updated: June 21, 2025
He thumped himself twice upon the chest, and then said in a loud, clear voice: "Does anyone here wish to question the merit of my son, Waditaka? Is he not as brave as the bravest, and does he not think further ahead than any other warrior in the village?" Then up spoke old Xingudan and he was sincere. "Your words are as true as if they had been spoken by Manitou himself," he said.
Xingudan's face was seamed with years, though his tall figure was not bent, and Will soon learned that his name had been earned. Xingudan, though he seldom went on the war path now, was full of craft and guile and cunning. The village under his rule was orderly and more far-seeing than Indians usually are. The Sioux began to strengthen their lodges and to accumulate stores of pemmican.
I am old, Roka, and the old as they draw near to Manitou and all the gods and spirits that people the air, hear many whispers of the future. A voice coming from afar tells low in my ear that before the snow and ice have gone Waditaka, who was born white but who is now a Sioux, the adopted son of Inmutanka, will save us all." "And does Xingudan see that?" "Yes, Roka, I see it."
So he wisely made no such trial, and seemed to settle down into a sort of content. He saw no more then of Heraka, who had evidently gone away to the great war with the white men, but he saw a good deal of the chief of the village, an old man named Xingudan, which in Sioux meant the Fox.
The two men, however, had perished nobly and the people felt triumphant. Will examined the bears by the numerous torchlights. He and Xingudan and Inmutanka agreed that they were not the true grizzly of the Montana or Idaho mountains, but, like the first one, much larger beasts coming out of the far north.
"I cannot help that, as you know, Xingudan." "I do not blame you, but there is something of which Heraka is ignorant." "What is it?" "Waditaka is now the adopted son of the wise and good Inmutanka." "But the orders of Heraka are strict and stern." "The rite of adoption is sacred. Until Waditaka himself chooses to change he is a Sioux and must be treated as a Sioux."
Will found himself busy keeping them within bounds, but his old, happy touch soon returned, and the Indians, to their renewed amazement, soon saw the animals obeying him instinctively. "It is magic," said old Xingudan. "Then it is good magic," said Inmutanka, "and Wayaka is a good lad. He does not know it yet, but he is beginning to like our life. Think of that, O, Xingudan."
Old Xingudan, taciturn though he was and severe of manner, was his firm friend and would defend him against Heraka, or the great war chief, Red Cloud, himself. Will was not only by formal rite of adoption a Sioux, but in the present crisis he was, on the whole, the most valuable young warrior in a village where young warriors were so scarce, owing to the distant war with the whites.
"That Waditaka be burned to death with slow fire at the stake, and that other tortures of which we know be inflicted upon him. We lost many warriors in battle with the whites and the soul of Heraka was bitter." Old Xingudan leaned his chin on his hand and looked very thoughtfully at the fire that blazed in the centre of the lodge. "The command of Heraka is unjust," he said.
"It is the wish of the three of us," said the youth, "that this great skin be accepted by the brave and wise Xingudan, whose knowledge and skill have kept the village unhurt and happy under conditions that might well have overcome any man." A look of gratification, swift but deep, passed over the face of Xingudan, but he declined the magnificent offer.
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