The possession of the eagle’s feather denoted success on the war-path and was a prize every Indian hoped to obtain. From early childhood the Indian boy was instructed in the arts of war and the hunt. Before him was ever the vision of the eagle’s feather, and this symbol inspired him to noble deeds and great bravery. In his barbarous training he learned to keep two virtues, endurance and courage, constantly uppermost in his mind. Tradition tells of an Indian boy who was taken captive. The boy knew that his trial would be severe, and summoned all his bravery to prove the nobility of his tribal blood. His captors held a grand council and decided that his fate should depend upon the amount of his courage and endurance. If he bore well the torture they gave him he might be adopted into the tribe--a great honor--otherwise they would kill him. First they held him barefoot upon the coals of the camp-fire until large blisters came and these they pierced with bone needles and filled with sharp stones. They then formed a gauntlet and made the little fellow run between the long lines of shouting savages. His agony was intense, but with all the courage and fortitude of his tribe he had strength to reach the goal. A wild shout of approval went up from the Indians. “Good,” cried a chief. “He will be a great warrior.” But this was only the beginning of his trials. They now bound him to the stakes and tortured him with fire and still the brave boy stood without a complaint or a moan. Then, not yet satisfied, they held him under the water of a cold stream until his life was almost gone, but when they released him and he gained his breath he still was able to stand up before them. “A warrior, a warrior,” they cried and then adopted him into their tribe. This boy grew to be a noted chief of great power, hailed far and wide for his brave deeds. [Illustration: AN INDIAN CREEPING THROUGH THE LONG GRASS] Trained in such a hard school, no point of advantage escaped the Indians in war or on the trail. They made good use of the tall grass of the prairies to shield them, and would glide behind it like serpents toward their enemies, suddenly and unexpectedly jumping up among them with shrill, wild war-whoops.