65. The Arrows Fail on the Hunt

In the fall they camped out in the plains for buffalo. They camped at the Canadian River, then at DzîLts'îdgaiye, "mountains stand" at LiyeLdeseLye, "saddled floated away", at Balisoye, (Mexican name?) where they came among the buffalo. The bulls that were going around in advance of the herd were killed and the meat brought back. In the evening, the chief made a speech saying, "We shall stay here two days, you should have everything ready. There are many buffalo here. After two days, in the evening, we shall move camp toward them." After two days when the sun was here in the sky they started off eastward and came to Gadjaeyi and camped below in the arroyo. During the night, the buffalo ran away from them. They kept bellowing. The next day some men rode to the top of the hill to look over the country. They came back and reported that there were buffalo in large numbers in all directions. They caught their good horses and rode them out on the plains. They rode right among them killing a great number and bringing back much meat. The next day they killed many again. Still another day they killed a good many and brought in the meat.

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In the evening the chief spoke to them again. "Our arrows are all gone. If the enemy sees us, there is nothing we can do, for we have nothing to shoot with." Then they were afraid and started back with some of the meat still fresh. They were obliged to leave behind some of the flour, piling it up, taking only the sacks. They turned back, some of the men having only one arrow, others none at all, and some of them having two. That was the reason they started back while the meat was still fresh. They started early in the morning and traveled until noon when they stopped. In the evening they started again and traveled through the night although they could not see. In four days they came back to Cimarron with the meat. They set to work and made many arrows.