“_Ho-ho! Ho-ho! Ho-ho!_” No Water and Eagle Voice applauded in unison. “_Washtay!_” remarked No Water. “One husband got away that time! _Washtay!_” “It was not so,” said Moves Walking. “Brothers were very sad. Had bad hearts. Killed Flies Back for running away from their sister. All dead! Five!” Holding up his spread right hand, he slowly counted with a careful forefinger. Eagle Voice chuckled, and No Water, his grieved look intensified, shook his head sadly in silence. XVIII _Falling Star, the Savior_ Having filled the coffee cups and set the meat pot within easy reach of the guests, I went outside to get a chunk of cottonwood, for a chill had crept into the tepee. Under a dull sky the afternoon was waning fast, and already the edge of the still air was sharpening with the approach of night. While chopping, it occurred to me that we would soon be sitting in the dark, so I went to the little log house and borrowed an oil lamp--the only one, but freely given. The family would go to bed soon, the daughter explained, and it would not be needed. Also, if the old men did not want to go home, they could sleep on the floor by the stove, and go home in the morning. When I re-entered the tepee, Eagle Voice was lying down, his knees drawn up, an arm across his face. Apparently he was asleep. No Water and Moves Walking were having a friendly argument between mouthfuls. No Water was convinced that it happened in the winter when the four Crows were killed, while Moves Walking held out for the winter when the tree fell on the old woman. When I had put the cottonwood chunk on the embers and placed the lighted lamp on the ground near the stove, it soon became clear to me that both contenders had the best of reasons, with a glaring eye to reinforce them on the one hand, and a deeply grieved look on the other. What it was that had happened, whenever it had, was not revealed. Eagle Voice sat up, brushed the straggling gray hair from his eyes, grinned pleasantly, and said: “_Kola_, it was not the winter when the four Crows were killed; it was not the winter when the tree fell on the old woman. It was the winter when the Shoshonis were chased over the bank; and that is a story I could tell.” “_Ah-a-a-a!_” agreed the erstwhile contenders in unison. Was not Eagle Voice much older than they?