I fancy that little white children don't know that their red brothers
like to dress up in grown-up people's things just as much as they do.
One day several little SIOUX Indian boys decided to have a war dance.
They braided each other's hair, and one little boy was so vain that,
while his companion was braiding his hair, he kept admiring himself in a
little piece of looking-glass that he held in his hand. After all had
their hair finished, they put on the dance costumes just as they had
seen their fathers do. Each wore the roach on his head, beads around his
neck, and the belt; then each took his little bow and they started to
have the dance.
When the girls heard their little brothers playing outside, they went to
the doors of their lodges to watch them. Then the boys had to do their
best, of course, to show the girls what brave warriors they were going
to be.
[Illustration: KEPT ADMIRING HIMSELF IN A LITTLE PIECE OF
LOOKING-GLASS.]
An old grandfather was sitting out-of-doors sunning himself; so the boys
brought a tom-tom, and asked him to make music for them. Then they
danced the war dance in earnest--a true imitation of their fathers. They
danced for several hours, until they were so tired they could dance no
longer; then they retired to a tepee, which they made believe was their
council house, and in council they decided that the little girls would
surely have much more respect for them in the future.
[Illustration: THE LITTLE GIRLS WOULD HAVE MORE RESPECT FOR THEM.]
[Illustration]