“When the sun came back, the sub-chiefs came too, and the argument began all over again, going ’round and ’round the circle; and the man and boy sat there wondering when they were going to die. But afterwhile the day began to get old, and the voices were not so angry as they had been. Then the head chief stood up tall and looked hard into each face about the circle; and there was stillness waiting for his words to fill it. And after he had looked hard for a while, the chief said, ‘I heard many words yesterday, and today I have heard many words. They are all the same. I have closed my ears, for they are tired. Now I will receive this gift the mysterious stranger brings us.’ As he said this, he stooped and took the sacred bundle from Sharp Nose, and when he was standing straight and tall again, holding the gift with both hands, he said, ‘I have received it and with it I am willing to die. If you want to kill me with this bundle, here I stand.’ When the sub-chiefs heard these words, they all cried, ‘_hiyee! hiyee!_’ as though they had but one mouth. Then one stood up and said, ‘I too will die with the stranger’s gift; and, one by one, all the others stood and said the same.’ “Of course, only a _wichasha wakon_ [holy man] could untie the sacred bundle, and there was one among the sub-chiefs who did this. First he took some red coals from the fire and placed them in front of him. Then upon the coals he put some pieces of dry buffalo dung; and when these gave forth a flame, he lit his pipe therefrom, and presented it to the four quarters and to the sky and to the earth. Then he was ready to untie the bundle, and as he took it from the chief, there was no sound in the tepee but what the fire made, and the ring of eyes looked hard upon the bundle. When the holy man had untied the red flannel, a sound went round the circle, ‘_ah-h-h_,’ for all could see that this was not just something tied up in a dirty rag. Then the holy man gave the bundle to the head chief, who took it and cried, ‘_Hiyee-thanks!_’ The crowd of people outside, hearing the words of the chief, cried out the same, as with one mouth, ‘_Hiyee_-thanks!’ Then when the chief had touched his body all over with the sacred gift, he passed it on to the sub-chiefs, and, all around the circle, each in his turn received the sacred gift, crying, ‘_hiyee_-thanks!’ But this is not all they did; for when each had cried out thus and touched his body all over with the bundle, he gave a gift to each of the strangers--one horse, two horses, fine buckskin clothing, three horses or maybe four, so that when the sacred bundle had gone all around the circle, the strangers had all that they could wish for themselves, except food and drink. Then the head chief called for water to be brought, and they drank. After that, they smoked, and all shared the pipe with them. Then food in plenty was brought and they ate like hungry dogs, for they had eaten nothing those two days, nor had they drunk till then.