must know how to fight before he leads his friends into danger. I have never faced an enemy. I do not know what will happen to me. Perhaps I shall do something foolish, and be killed. Spotted Deer, I must go alone. No, I will not change it in my heart.”

“Running Fox, now I know that you will do this thing without me,” replied Spotted Deer. “Well, I will not say anything more against it. I feel like a very old man.”

The night before Running Fox planned to set out upon his journey his friends came to his father’s lodge to talk with him. The last to leave was Spotted Deer. The two friends sat together a long time. Running Fox attempted to be light-hearted and gay, but Spotted Deer was moody and depressed. However, when Running Fox brought forth the new war-equipment which he had received from his father, Spotted Deer’s eyes lighted with enthusiasm, and he became lively and interested. Then, having inspected the various articles, he immediately relapsed into gloomy silence.

“My brother, when the next sun comes you are going away,” Spotted Deer said, solemnly, as he finally rose to leave. “Perhaps I shall never see you again. It is bad. I will not talk about it.”

They clasped hands, and looked earnestly into each other’s eyes. Then Spotted Deer hurried away. When he had gone Running Fox seated himself at the back of the lodge, and sat a long time staring moodily into the darkness.

That night Running Fox found it impossible to sleep. His mind was tortured by the thought of parting from his friend. Spotted Deer’s words kept ringing in his ears: “Perhaps I shall never see you again.” As the night dragged slowly along Running Fox was tempted to steal away while the inmates slept, to tell Spotted Deer that he might accompany him. He was dissuaded, however, by the fear of causing his friend’s death. Thus the miserable lad fought his battle until the first gray light of dawn stole into the lodge, and then he finally determined to venture into the treacherous northern wilderness alone.

When Running Fox appeared in the village equipped for the war-trail, he received a stirring ovation from his tribesmen. As he left his father’s lodge he was immediately surrounded by a company of enthusiastic friends, who paraded him about the camp to the accompaniment of shouts and war-songs. Spotted Deer, however, took no part in the celebration. Running Fox was greatly disturbed at his absence. When he finally asked about him he learned that an old woman had seen Spotted Deer hurrying away with his robe and weapons at dawn. She said that he had gone toward the south. The news filled Running Fox with gloom. He feared that grief might have driven Spotted Deer to some foolhardy resolve. However, Running Fox had little chance to think of him at the moment, for he soon found himself the center of a great throng of people who had gathered to do him honor.

The lad appeared to splendid advantage as he stood beside his father in the center of the camp. He was tall and graceful, with a fearless face and flashing black eyes. Unlike his father and the warriors, who wore their hair cropped close to the scalp, Running Fox had hair that reached to his shoulders. His dress was like that of the older men. He was naked above the waist, and wore a short buckskin skirt or tunic which extended to his knees. Fringed buckskin leggings covered his limbs. His moccasins were of elk-hide gayly decorated with dyed sweet grass. His equipment included an elk-skin robe, a hickory bow, a buckskin case filled with arrows, a flint knife, a stone war-club, a set of fire drills and a small bag filled with parched corn.

“My friends, here stands a young man dressed for the war-trail,” Black Panther told the Delawares. “Look closely at him for you may never see him again. He is going upon a dangerous journey, Yes, he is going into the country of our enemies, the boastful Mohawks, to find out how Standing Wolf gets his power. It is a great thing to do. If he lives through it I will give away many good presents. I have finished.”

The Delawares greeted the announcement with words of approval. Several prominent warriors made speeches praising the lad for his courage, and urging him to kill many Mohawks. Then old Sky Dog sang a number of sacred medicine-songs, and fastened a small buckskin bag containing sacred herbs about the neck of Running Fox to protect him from harm.

At the conclusion of the ceremony Running Fox set out upon his journey. He followed a well-worn Delaware hunting trail that led northward along the river. It was Kitschinipen, the summer planting season, and a great primeval wilderness was at its best. The day was glorious. The sky was cloudless, the air was soft and balmy and the earth was flooded with sunshine. Wild flowers dotted the trail, and birds sang from the trees and thickets. Running Fox found much to interest him. He stopped to watch Tiskemanis, the noisy blue fisher bird, plunge into the water after his prey. He called cheerily to Mehokuiman, the red bird. He frightened ugly Gundaschees, the water-snake, from his sunny log at the edge of the river. Then he heard the stealthy approach of Achtu, the deer. As he had been advised to kill one of the old bucks by the medicine-deer, Running Fox hastily prepared his arrow and concealed himself behind a tree. In a few moments the deer approached the river to drink. It was a doe, however, and the young Delaware withheld his arrow. He knew that she had a fawn concealed in some nearby thicket, and he had been taught to spare the mother and young of all creatures that there might always be plenty of game for the hunters. He waited until the doe had finished drinking, and then he showed himself. For a moment the surprised creature stared at him with big frightened eyes, and then hounded gracefully into the woods.

“Go in peace, my sister, I will not harm you,” cried Running Fox.

Soon afterward Running Fox had an experience that filled him with gloomy forebodings. He was seated upon a boulder at the edge of the water when he heard the harsh cries of Woapalanne, the great white-headed war-eagle. Looking into the sky he discovered the bird soaring in great circles directly above him. He feared that it was a bad omen, for old Sky Dog had told him that the sudden appearance of Woapalanne invariably meant war. Running Fox wondered if he was about to meet his enemies. Until that moment the possibility had never entered his mind, as he had considered himself quite safe as long as he remained within the Delaware boundaries. Now, as the war-eagle continued to hover over him, he became suspicious.

“Hi, Woapalanne, I see you flying around up there,” he cried, as he shook his bow at the eagle. “I hear you making a great noise up there. Sky Dog says it is a sign of war. Well, Woapalanne, you do not frighten me. I will not turn around. I have set out to do something, and I am going ahead with it. Woapalanne, Sky Dog says that you are a good friend. That is why I have told you what I am going to do. But you must not tell the Mohawks about me. That would be bad. Come, if you are a good friend you must help me. Now I am going up on top of that high mountain to look around.”

However, as Running Fox turned to enter the forest the eagle suddenly changed its tactics, and flew away toward the south. This unexpected maneuver greatly upset the young Delaware. His thoughts instantly turned to his friend, Spotted Deer. Having learned that the latter had departed upon some mysterious mission to the southward, Running Fox read a warning in the final action of the war-eagle. He believed that Spotted Deer was in peril. The thought refused to leave his mind.

When Running Fox reached the top of the ridge from which he planned to reconnoiter the surrounding country, his sharp eyes quickly discovered something which instantly aroused his interest, A thin wavering column of smoke was rising against the sky some distance to the southward. The sight of it filled him with emotion, for he knew that it came from the Delaware