Before long I had overtaken the Utes, and, riding between them, made ready to strike them.  The man with the arrows turned on his horse, and shot at me, but I bent to one side, and the arrow passed by without hitting me, and I struck him with my axe and knocked him off his horse.  Then the man with the gun turned and was aiming at me, but when he pulled the trigger his gun snapped and did not go off.  I was close to him and caught the barrel in my hand, and struck him with my axe, and knocked him off his horse.  Then I rode on, holding his gun in my hand.  Before the two men whom I had struck could get on their horses again, my friends had overtaken and killed them.

We traveled on further, but found no more enemies, and at last we gave up, and returned to our village.  All the time, as we were journeying about, and going back, I kept feeling better and better.  I grew stronger slowly.  The swelling on my knee began to go down, so that before we reached the village I could rest my weight on that foot a little.  At last we arrived, and when we came in sight of the camp, we could see people looking from the lodges to see who were coming.

As we rode down the hill to charge upon the village, the leader told me to ride far in front, “For,” he said, “you are the bravest of all.”  When we came into the village the men and the women and the children came out to meet us.  All of them shouted out my name, and my heart grew big in my breast, for I felt that all the people thought that I had done well.  Among the women who came out to meet us, I saw Standing Alone, running along by my mother, and both were singing a glad song.  And when I saw this, I came near to crying.

At last I reached my lodge, and before it stood my uncle; and as I rode toward him he called out in a loud voice, and asked a certain man named Brave Wolf to come to his lodge and see his son who had given his body to the enemy, desiring to be killed, but who had done great things and had survived.  And when Brave Wolf came to the lodge, my uncle gave to him the best horse that he had, a spotted war pony, handsome and long-winded and fleet.

All that day I sat in the lodge and rested, and talked to my uncle.  I told him about our journey to war, and while he did not say much I could see that his heart was glad.  Before he got up to leave the lodge, he said to me, “Friend, you have done well; I am glad to have such a son.”  This made me feel glad and proud—­more proud, I think, than I felt when I heard the people shout out my name.  I loved my uncle and it seemed good that I had done something that pleased him.

All day long people were coming to our lodge and talking about what had happened to us while on our journey.  Those who came were my relations and friends, but, besides these, older men, good warriors, people to whose words all the tribe listened, came and sat and talked with me for a little while.  My mother and one or two of her relations were busy all day cooking food for the visitors.  It was a happy time.