Comanche by J. T. Edson Read Free Book Online

making his name among his people. The Pehnane had been moving towards their pre-winter buffalo hunting ground for almost two weeks, travelling through most of the daylight hours and throwing up a hasty temporary camp at sundown. At last they had reached the desired area and the various lodge chiefs told their people to halt and settle down.
    Having reached the end of their journey, the younger boys found themselves free from the task of horse herding. At such a time, boys and girls of from six to about ten gathered in bands to play. Loncey ran with one of the groups consisting of children from Dog Soldier lodge families. Already his group had built up a reputation for high-spirited behaviour and the knowing among the lodge members nodded in satisfaction, saying that Loncey, his foster brother and another of the group, Comes For Food, showed the signs of making true brave-hearts if their present actions be any sign.
    On settling down for any length of time, the mixed groups sought out a deep hole in a near-by stream and made it their gathering point. Thinking back to the previous year’s visit to the area, Loncey recalled the ideal spot for their play-camp. One small snag arose as he suggested the location; it lay beyond the Dog Soldier tepee area. Unless the group moved fast, a bunch from the Fox lodge might reach the place first.
    ‘They have a shorter ride to it,’ Loud Voice warned.
    ‘Not if we go through the camp,’ replied Loncey and ran to where his pony stood waiting.
    Eagerly the rest of the boys collected their mounts, going astride the bare backs like squirrels climbing a pine tree. Kicking his heels against the pony’s ribs, Loncey started it moving. Always willing to join in any kind of fun, the remainder of the boys followed Loncey’s lead. Ten colts and ponies raced away from the horse herd, to tear at speed through a camp busily engaged in setting up homes.
    Riders racing through the village had never been so rare a sight as to excite comment. The women grew accustomed to erecting tepees in the face of such distractions. Normally the riders showed sufficient consideration to keep their running horses away from the working women. However on this occasion Loud Voice sat afork a slightly larger, more spirited colt then usual, and lacked the strength to control it properly. So while his companions steered their mounts clear of trouble, he found his heading straight into it.
    Following his usual practice, Old Sleeps Long And Deep, skilled bow-maker of the village, stood close by so as to supervise the erection of his main tepee. While his wives secretly objected to what they regarded as an unwarrantable intrusion into their domain, they could do nothing to change the old man’s ways.
    Already much of the work had been completed. After fastening the four fourteen foot long cedar poles at the upper end, the women stood them erect, spreading the lower ends outwards evenly as the start of a circle. Against this foundation a further eighteen poles—their butts sunk about two feet deep into the ground for added strength and security, rose up to be tied to the main poles. Using the pyramid of poles as a skeleton, the women hung the carefully cut and fitted buffalo hides into place to form the walls of the dwelling.
    All this had been completed and the women worked on the final outside task, that of fastening the buffalo-hide covering at the top. A task calling for some skill and knowledge, fastening the top and arranging the tepee’s smokehole fell upon the oldest, most experienced wife. Sleeps Long And Deep’s pairaivo , showing remarkable agility for an elderly woman, stood on the shoulders of his other two wives, from that vantage point she had already pinned the covering’s edges together with wooden skewets about the size of a white man’s pencil and fastened the top into position. When Loud Voice made his hurried appearance, the old woman leaned forward to fix the smoke-hole. By folding the upper skins