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Updated: June 21, 2025
They tracked the wolf up the mountain side, slew it with arrows and recovered the body of the child, to which they gave proper burial, thus making sure of the immortality of its soul. The danger from the wild beasts remained. It was the theory of the old and wise Xingudan that the pony herd drew them.
Xingudan urged forward a pursuit. Will had exhausted his arrows, but an old warrior loaned him a long lance, and with it he slew two of the brutes which were now panic stricken. Yet the chief, like a good general, still pressed the fleeing horde, although the wolves turned once and another old man was killed.
"The youth, Waditaka, the son of Inmutanka, was the greatest warrior of us all when the bears came, and his deeds stand first." Then up spoke the messenger, Roka, also. "It is true," he said. "I witnessed with my own eyes the great deeds of Waditaka. Our chief, Xingudan, must be proud to have such a brave and wise young warrior in his village."
The wise old Xingudan, backed by the equally wise old Inmutanka, forbade any expeditions far from the village unless they were made in great force, and their judgment was soon proved by the fact that many bears, wolves and mountain lions of the greatest size were slain.
Will judged that the largest of them all weighed a full three-quarters of a ton or more, and a most terrific creature he was, with great hooked claws as hard as steel and nearly a foot in length. "One blow of those would destroy the stoutest warrior, Waditaka," said Xingudan. "Our bows and arrows and lances have saved us," said Will.
The trace of a liking that had appeared in him had found a response in them. Friendship replies to friendship, and Will, who six months ago would have laughed at the endorsement of blanketed wild men, now felt a thrill of pleasure. But Xingudan as yet said little more. He pointed to the great bear and said: "The skin belongs to Waditaka and Inmutanka. The flesh will be divided among the people."
There were enough people in the village to make it easy for the watchers, and the fires would keep them warm. Xingudan expressed his full approval of the plan, and the watch was set that very night, Will, at his own request, being put in charge of it.
One very cold morning he and several others were toiling hard at the task under the critical eye of old Xingudan, who sat on a ledge wrapped in a pair of heavy blankets, Will's fine repeating rifle lying across his knees.
One of their hardest struggles was to keep alive the herd of ponies. At the suggestion of Will and of Xingudan, who was a wise man beyond his race, much forage had been cut for them before the winter fell, and in the alcoves of the mountains where the snow was thin they were continually seeking grass, which grew despite everything.
Will struck with the lance so fiercely that it entered the animal's heart and, wrenched from his hands, was broken as the great beast fell. "Behold!" shouted Xingudan in Roka's ear, "he has saved your life even as he saved mine!" Not one of the bears escaped, but two of the men lost their lives in the terrible combat, and the strength of the village was reduced yet further.
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