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HOW AN INDIAN BOY LEARNED TO BE BRAVE
Little Wolf lived with his father. Dark Cloud, in a tent near a big forest. When the boy was ten years old, Dark Cloud decided that Little Wolf must learn to be brave. One afternoon Dark Cloud said, "Little Wolf, you must cone to the men's fire this evening." Little Wolf did not ask questions, because he remembered his father's words — that he must see with his eyes and hear with his ears, and only then speak.
When night.came. Dark Cloud and the other men sat down round the fire. The sky was dark. There was no moon and the stars were behind the clouds. "Come to the fire. Little AVolf," his father said. He gave the boy a bucket and said, "Go to the river and bring a bucket of water!"
The river was far from the camp, on the other side of the forest. Children never went into the forest at night. They knew that the forest was full of animals, and they were afraid. The boy looked at his father, but Dark Cloud looked at the fire and did not speak.
The boy took the bucket and went into the forest. He walked slowly, because it was very dark. But then he heard a noise. He stopped and tried to see what it was. Now he heard other noises. He began to run. He fell, then he stood up, took his bucket and ran again. When he came to the river, he did not rest. He took a bucket of water and began to walk back. But in the forest he heard the noise again, and in one place he thought that he saw wolf's eyes. He began to run. When he came back to the men round the fire, there wasn't much water in the bucket.
An old man took the bucket from Little Wolf and looked into it. He did not speak, but gave it to the next man. The bucket went round from man to man. When it came back to the first man, he threw the water on the grass and said to the boy, "Go to the river again! Don't run on your way back!"
Little Wolf did not want to go, but he did not want to show that he was afraid. He took the bucket, and soon he was in the forest again. But in the forest he heard animals. The noises were so near that he thought he saw an animal behind every tree. He began to run, and when he came to the river, he was tired and hot. He took only half a bucket of water and run back with it. Again the old man threw the water on the grass. He gave the bucket to the boy and said, "Go to the river and this time bring a full bucket of water!"
The boy took the bucket and thought, "If I can't do this, I'll never be a man!" He ran to the forest, and he did not look back at the fire. It was so dark that he could not see the way, but he did not stop. "I must not be afraid!" he thought.
At the river he took a full bucket of water, and went back into the dark forest. He thought of his father and the other brave men
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