It was an old custom for young people to ride all night and sing, while guarding camp and protecting the horse herds. Then it became a social custom with special songs, sung in unison by different groups riding two on a horse. CHAPTER XL SOCIETY OF BRAVE DOGS My tepee was near the three dance lodges of the Brave Dog Society, which were somewhat apart from the others, near the center of the circle camp. There they kept their costumes and weapons and dressed for parades and dances. Day after day I watched them in their interesting customs. As a society they had power, because of their reputation for bravery. Every one feared to oppose them. They did not maltreat people, but sometimes punished severely offenders against the public welfare. Their function in the tribal camp was primarily to preserve order. The first evening of the camp, they rode round the circle shouting their orders to the people, saying: “Let every one be quiet to-night. Young people must not act thoughtlessly or play pranks. The sacred woman has important ceremonies and should not be disturbed.” For parades and dances out of doors, the Brave Dogs went forth in their best costumes. They marched by twos. Short Robe, their leader, wore a beaded suit of deerskin trimmed over shoulders and arms with black-tipped weasel-skins; also a large coyote-skin, with his head thrust through a slit in the middle of the skin and the tail hanging down his back. According to their society custom, he carried a rattle in his right hand and a blanket over his left arm. Sometimes in their parades, Short Robe’s youngest son, a boy of twelve, walked by his father’s side, wearing a miniature costume like the chief. Next in rank to Short Robe were two mounted men, Big Moon and Elk Horn. They were the assistant leaders, and wore war bonnets of selected eagle feathers. Their horses were painted with war pictures, representing the brave deeds of their riders. Two members, Lone Chief and Cream Antelope, represented grizzly bears. They alone of the society carried bows and arrows. Their faces were painted with the “bear face” pattern—red all over, with black marks downward from the eyes and corners of the mouth. They wore headdresses of bearskin, with bear’s ears and two bear claws on top for horns; and on their arms were bands made of bearskin with bear claws attached. The lower part of their bodies was naked and painted with bright colors. They wore loin-cloths and beaded belts with daggers and short-sleeved shirts of soft-tanned skins covered with fringe.