Little Bob
The afternoon session was over; Gray-beard tapped his bell; we put away
our books, folded our arms, and when there was silence the teacher
spoke: "Frank will remain here until he finishes correctly the sum he
is working on. He has neglected his arithmetic lesson during school
hours, so he will have to do the work after school."
Such punishment had not happened to me before. It had frequently come
to other scholars, and I had felt sorry for them; but now the disgrace
had fallen on me, and I felt it keenly.
Gray-beard led the song about "The Little Brown Church in the Wild
Wood," and the whole school sang; but just then I did not care for
brown churches or churches of any other color, so my voice did not
mingle with that of the other pupils. Then they sang "Lord dismiss
us," but as I was not dismissed I did not join in the singing of that
familiar hymn.
Brush, Edwin, and the rest of my companions lingered awhile in the
school-room to keep me company; but as they had work to do they could
not stay long, so I was left alone to struggle with a lot of ugly
fractions. My thoughts ran in every direction, off to my home, to the
boys at play, and anywhere but on my task. I made a desperate effort to
bring myself around to the problem that held me a prisoner by keeping
a steady gaze into the deep blue sky through the open window, and then
slowly the solution of that detestable sum came to my mind, and I
had it. I put it on my slate, compared it with the answer left me by
Gray-beard, found it correct, and my work was done.
I arose, put my books away, and stood near the teacher's desk wondering
what to do next, when all of a sudden the door burst open and in rushed
a little boy, crying. He was without his hat, his coat unbuttoned, and
shoestrings untied. Following swiftly on the little chap came a large
boy who, for some reason, was angered at the fleeing lad, and was now
pursuing to punish him. The little boy ran around the stove, then
toward me and got behind me. The big boy pushed on in his vengeful
pursuit, and reached to grasp the object of his anger when I struck at
him with my fist. The blow fell on his forehead, he stood for a moment
stunned; then he sprang at me; we dealt each other blow after blow, and
in our mad charges we knocked over benches and desks. How it happened I
do not know, for in my excitement I could not tell where I struck him,
or where he struck me, but suddenly my antagonist put his hands to his
stomach, doubled over and could not breathe. I became frightened. At
length, with a succession of hiccoughs, the boy recovered his breath,
picked up his hat, and went out.
I straightened out the benches and desks that we had knocked over,
and then sat down to cool off. When I had rested, I called to the
round-headed little chap who stood trembling in the corner holding up
his trousers, for in his attempts to escape he had lost the buttons to
his pants, "What did you do to that boy; what did he want to hit you
for?"
"I didn't do nothin'," he answered, hitching up his garments as he came
toward me.
"What's your name?"
"Robert Brown."
"Where you live?"
"In your village, in that little house near Ou-ni-ja-bi's."
"That's Ne-ma-ha's house."
"Yes, that's my father."
And so it was the son of that man for whom I was all bruised up.
Ne-ma-ha was the poorest man in my father's village, and had no
recognition among the prominent men of the tribe, although he had been
the priest or hereditary keeper of the sacred tent of war. It was only
by the performance of valorous deeds that men won honors in the tribe;
but this man had no ambition to win such honors. As a hunter he was
also a total failure, consequently his worldly possessions were not
such as could give him distinction. Like his brother, who was struck by
lightning, he deserted his sacred charge through craven superstitious
fear, and, having lost his priestly position, he had become a useless
member of the tribe.
"What's your Omaha name?" I asked, as I pinned his trousers to his
suspenders with sharp sticks and nails.
"They call me Hae-th'na'-ta," he replied, wiping his face with the end
of his coat sleeve.
The youngster belonged to the Elk band of the tribe, hence the boy's
name, the English translation of which is, horns forked, meaning the
forked-horned elk. How he came by his English name I do not know.
From this time on the lad was always near me, and gradually became
my devoted follower. Although at first I did not care for him much,
he finally won my friendship by his faithfulness and good nature. He
always assisted me as far as his strength would permit in the work
assigned me about the school; thus it was that Little Bob, as he was
familiarly known, became a satellite to the group to which I belonged,
and so safe from the attacks of the other boys.
Brush, Edwin, Warren, Lester, and I were now recognized by all the
boys of the school as a "gang," and were spoken of as "the Middle
Five." We had fallen into this close companionship without any formal
arrangement, and we were regarded as the strongest group between the
Big Seven and the other "gangs."