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Show . un loosing aoout them tbelfieyes' rested on Two Bellies, and in him they found one not only willing but anxious "to beard the lion in bis den." Here was the very chance for which he longed to make "things even up," and besides who could tell but that in the general shuffle that would follow the new deal ho might land somewhere near the top? As he had nothing to lose and everything to gain, it was worth trying. A day or two before the election h appeared in the village with the sinews of war ii the 6hape of silver dollar (for a blanket Indian will have nothing to do with paper money), parasol, yellow paint, chewing gum, and other things dear to the red man's heart, besides a commission to count the ballot and bring the returns to the agency. . It would havo taken a keen ward worker to iiave told on tho morning of election how tho village would vote, History tolls us that when the ballot) were counted the leasers had carried their point by a bare majority; but it forgets to mention that, in order to do this, more Totes were counted than there wero voters to cast them. When tho old medicine man, by an hours strugglo with mental arithmetic and a final count by noses (the Indian method of balloting), had discovered this fact, he got out his Winchester and went around inquiring for Two Bellies. That wprthy, by this time, however, was far on the road to the agency, and, as a cowboy cow-boy who met him expressed it, "Ho had a move on himself like a man who wm riding for a record." Whether this means was fair or foul, the leasers carried the, day, and the larger part of the reservation was turned over to the cow men. A change was soon noticeable. Substantial buildings took tho place of dugouts; corrah were built at convenient points; surveyors ran the lines between tho ranges and wire fences followed close behind. Down at the agency Two Bellies wa? enjoying the reward for the part he had played, and, if his work could be judged by the reward, he had played it well. Right into the swim he landed, and in a short time was putting on the airs of a man who owned the pool itself. Discarding Discard-ing the tribal blanket and "gee string," he donned a major general's coat, sprits bottom pants and had his moccasins beaded to the heel. After the excitement that followed the election had subsided be began to lay his plans for the future. The first thing on the cards was to secure se-cure a squaw. After accomplishing this, being well satisfied with his bargain, he opened negotiations for another, and was soon recognized as a man of family and of affairs. He also enjoyed the favors and perquisites that formerly fell to the lot of Crazy Mule. As I saw him standing in front of the agency store one evening, with his hat tilted to the right angle, his cigar between his fingers, practicing spitting between his teeth, as became a politician of his standing, stand-ing, I thought of the old medicine man out in his lonely village, shorn of what power and privileges it was possible for the agent to take from him, watching over and guarding alike his little corn patch and the sick children of his followers, fol-lowers, to whom, iu spite of defeat, he was a chieftain still. And then I smiled as I remembered the words: "May be co, pretty soon, long time come, things tven .up." The; years rolled by, and in the course jf events another election was held. The party who had been in power so long in Washington city stepped down and out, and the friends of reform took up the reins of government. The old chiefs assumed their places, while the pets of the agents were sent to the rear. As I rodo along I wondered what changes I would find at the village, which I was approaching. If I expected any I was disappointed. The same curs, apparently, ap-parently, barked and snapped at mj horses heels; the squaws seemed busy with the same tasks, and under hisarbor tho old medicine man sat smoking his pipe with tho air of a proprietor and one who had earned his rest, and furthermore further-more had the advantage of knowing it. With n wave of tho hand that included 1 4 pioNEEitsracn. J hiU working for one of the I I '', ' nie companies that ranched I f UtorythatImet"Two I I Ho had only ltcly returned I frtrCl?d visit to Florida, where fntatowyears before for I Soldier on pay day. -J 7u return the agenf. suggested that I o-k on the agenty s farm along I ? !f 'a dozen other ex-braves, who J 3 . to follow the white nan's !fJlB n Two Bellies, in acquiring 1(1 I , had been equally careful to I ieUS!i'ifi One-thing he remem-st remem-st I s n0, rcruarkablo- clearness, was I "ruil labor, under any and all cir-.. cir-.. I fl was something beneath a " I r'lwn"in" around tho post awhile, " I tin out into the range and found ' S lU to-tho Crazy -Mule " I Tnearwhichl was stationed as a . I "I'ihad never met him, I had a I 1 ol Two Bellies' appearance ' I dw dcsipl011 the squaws and pap-"I pap-"I hi "'rcn mc' alK'' as Mt smok-i smok-i I my "teepe" one evening I aabuckapproaching,tl.emoment ' I r rested upon him I felt certain 5 I Lastlieoelebrated exile. 11 1 cnstuiu '-s a strikinS 0De. even I j, brd of striking costumes. On. , I d ,V33 a straw hat, with alternate , I i' Tunning fwm the crown to the I of the brim; a calico shirt of gaudy I cut "night shirt style," split from I .jijjr down, and pinned at the lower ''I raitiea with a small apairof I r rants (worn entire) hid his lower I !.-on his feet-ca.,f skin moccasins I I :',!ie hair on, and to cap it all, a I corset that did not meet by half a I a inches, completed an outfit that. I 1 have attracted ' attention any- J th.ikicg hands he stepped back w his hands across his stomach, I -panying the . movement with a I Injr sound, and by this pantomim.e 1 nn to all cowboys) announced that J is hungry. Having on handsome' J ,r(Sa and a pot of bvuns of which I J rron-n suspicious, I told him to help jit Watching him clean up every-1 every-1 in sight, I came to the conclusion 1 no matter how much his parents I erred in other matters, they had I lin'y hit the nail on the head in 1 ing ons of their "offspring. He I lyarose, let out his belt a hole ,or I borrowed a cigarette, shook hands I i, and in a few minutes I saw the I tluttering down the trail that led to I village. I was not much eur-I eur-I J to see Two Bellies next morn-31 morn-31 accompanied by three congenial 1 uis, with their usual following jf 'gs, approaching the "teepe." With I ire of the hand, that included buoka 1 dogs, as weil as a mule I had sad-I sad-I . he said: "Me sisters Ned Chuck-I Chuck-I -, want some;" ( rowing as much sarcasm as possible 1 my voice, I told Jiim I was sorry to I ppoint the ladies, but, owing to an I pected run on the larder last night, J boarding house was closed. ' J ilicn rode off, leaving them lighten-i lighten-i i heir belts and preparing to move on :ui thicket. On my return in the moon I found Two Bellies on guard. t:all pile of firewood : and a fresh .at f, w.iterj indicated r'that he waa :;g to regain the taivi he had lost by liecJless action in the morning. I i explained to him my orders from iquarters in regard to feeding his le,aml he, in return, said that Crazy was dieting his followers on dog .:, preparing for a feast and dance i to bo held, and, while he had no ob-i ob-i m to the festivities, daring his con-' con-' uent ho had lost his appetito for that . (I thought this a pity, for with his city lie could very .materially have need the canine census.) ' .. promised, however, to fill him up a day, and in return ho was to keep upplied with wood and water, and 3 up my mount of horses for mo ry aftnrnoon. This little arrang'emont iltslined to be broksn up, and from nexpected quarter. greeting and an invitation to a seat, he bade me welcome and fell to asking me the whereabouts of tho other boys, who in dnys gone by had "sr.iolted the old sisters" out of these thickets and sand hills. I answered as best I could, for they were scattered from the P.io Grande to the British possessions. I in turn bo-gan bo-gan to think of somo of ' those who had played a prominent part in those days, and was about to put the question as to their fate, when the sight of a buck bonding bond-ing low under a load of wood attracted my attention. Something about him appeared ap-peared familiar, and as he approached I could scarcely believe my eyes, for in the laborer, I recognized the ex-politician, Two Bellies. - ' Old Cftazy Mule, seeing my look of wonder, gave a grunt and a chuckle and relapsed into silence. Instead of the major general's coat and pring bottom pants and high hat, in .which I had last seen Two Bellies, ho now appeared with an old blanket over his shoulders, his lower limbs incased in a pair of blue overalls, and as he threw down his load and turned to get another, I saw the seat of these had been removed iu deference to tho tribal custom, and then I knew his fall was complete; thatanotherjback-slider thatanotherjback-slider was abroad, and that civilization had lost another convert. As he disappeared disap-peared in the timber, I could but think aain of his own prophetic words: "May e so, pretty won, long timo come, things even up." Ned H. in Atlanta Constitution. azy Mule, who in addition to hisdu-us hisdu-us chieftain of this particular vil-, vil-, was u!.io head "medicine man'.' for surrounding villages, soon heard of .nd lira jealousy was aroused. Indian Vh ho '.vas, his heart yearned for tho i pots of tho '-pale face," and if any ''i was to be dono he proposed to a hand in it himself. ' This, in con-ion con-ion with tho remark that "Crazy 2 fad tho largest practice and the Mt graveyard of any medicine man iiie tribe1' (said witticism being at-uted at-uted to Two Bellies), aroused the -soiisof tho old man, and, in the lan-of lan-of the cowboyshe fired Two Bel-and Bel-and fired j,jm bodily. , ' ' 'n the morning of his departure from village, Two Bellies stopped and told hi5 troubles, winding up .by say-: say-: "Way be so, pretty soon, long time things even up." . . .twn this I judged thatsooner; or later atended to square accounts. t long after this event, I went south cow hunt, to bo gone a couple of iths. From time to time rumors -lied U3 of an effort being made by a Meats composed ot various cattle ;ipaniesto lease the Cheyenne reser-w. reser-w. On our return to headquarters, -ound the whole tribe in an uproar, discussing ' the proposition,' which to be submitted to a vote. Iu thickest of the fight, in fact the rec-"Wd rec-"Wd leader of the anti-leasers was 7 Mule. With a knowledge bom of : '-' experience, he knew that any 1 -no having for one of its chief ob--stlie "advancement" of the Indian, M be examined into, especially if CMef promoters of that scheme were 'r a,ici'nt nemy, the cattlemen. In proposed lease . ho saw thp .entering -g- that was to divide their reserva-;-ar.d iur:, over j0 tno wjjite man r i wi foothold on earth. lu! agents of the "syndicate, early in '.skirmish, recognized that it would possible to win him over. Hia "td -,f tte pala face and his determi-xt'ea determi-xt'ea once his mind, was made up, ti; finto passed into a proverb. Ie3rti his influence, for his ability " ciatiir had been proven in many ' in the past, and on the lease .1-ia 'le was fighting with a "courage n of d?spair." He worked upon the hatred of bis followers toward the ;lt?' "-'vi conjured them, as they loved r homes, to resist, even to bloodshed, imposition. ;3iiif vole would be close, thosa who ' 0 matter in charge determined to icrcatls on Crazy Slule's personal 'rs by the liberal usa of the nl--toi'ar. Tho only difcculty was j-- -1 some one bold enough to carry -uu tilau efcd distribute ahelDeedfiaa. |