After he had gone I lay down, covering myself with my robe, and was soon asleep, for I was very tired.  That night, while I slept, I dreamed that a wolf came to me, and spoke, saying:  “My son, the spirits to whom you have cried all day long have heard your prayers, and have sent me to tell you that your cryings have not been in vain.  Take courage, therefore, for you shall be fortunate so long as these wars last.  You shall strike your enemies; your name shall be called through the camp, and all your relations will be glad.

“Look at me, and consider well my ways.  Remember that of all the animals, the wolves are the smartest.  If they get hungry, they go out and kill a buffalo; they know what is going to happen; they are always able to take care of themselves.  You shall be like the wolf; you shall be able to creep close to your enemies, and they shall not see you; you shall be a great man for surprising people.  In the bundle that you wear tied to your necklet, you shall carry a little wolf hair, and your quiver and your bow-case shall be made of the skin of a wolf.”  The wolf ceased speaking, yet for a time he sat there looking at me, and I at him; but presently he yawned, and stood up on his feet, and trotted off a little way, and suddenly I could not see him.

So then in these five times that I went to war, once I counted the first coup of all on an enemy; and three times I crept into camp and brought out horses, twice going with other men who went in to cut loose the horses, and once going in alone.  For these things I came to be well thought of by the tribe.  My uncle praised me, and said that the time was coming when I would be a good warrior.  All my relations felt proud and glad that I had such good luck.

I knew why all this had come to me.  I had done as the wolf had said, and often I went out from the camp—­or perhaps I stopped when I was traveling far from the village—­and went up on a hill, and, lighting a pipe, offered a smoke to the wolf, and asked him not to forget what he had said to me.

I was now a grown man, and able to do all the things that young men do.  I was a good hunter; I had a herd of horses, and had been to war, and been well spoken of by the leaders whose war parties I went with.  I was old enough, too, to think about young girls, and to feel that some day I wanted to get married, and to have a lodge and home of my own.  There were many nice girls in the camp; many who were hard workers, modest, and very pretty.  I liked many of them, but there was no one whom I liked so much as Standing Alone.  I often saw her, but sometimes she would not look at me, and sometimes she looked, but when she saw me looking at her she looked down again; but sometimes she smiled a little as she looked down.  It was long since we had played together, but I thought that perhaps she had not forgotten the time, so many years ago, when she pretended to be my wife, and when she had mourned over me once when I was killed by a buffalo.