fingers closed on her shoulder. Instantly the line broke up and the children scattered, leaving the girl to be hauled into the circle to be ‘eaten’; which meant nothing more serious than a tickling administered by the ‘grizzly bear’.
On making the first capture, Loncey changed the course of the game. Instead of a single line coming, now he had to protect the ‘sugar’ from the individual rushes. Darting in, the children either grabbed off a handful of sand or were captured and ‘eaten’. Such games developed hard, tireless muscles, especially when acting as the ‘grizzly bear’ and Loncey showed no signs of tiring even after defending the ‘sugar’ continuously for over an hour. All the girls fell victim early in the game, but the boys proved more elusive. Darting around, leaping over the mound, flashing from side to side, Loncey captured boy after boy, ‘eating’ them and sending them to watch from the sidelines. Of course he could not protect the entire area at once and the mound diminished gradually as the number of boys decreased.
Comes For Food evaded Loncey until the last. With the complete circle to move in and only one assailant to watch, Loncey could protect the ‘sugar’ easily. Making a feint at going left, Comes For Food lunged suddenly to the right. Shrieks of delight rose from the spectators as he reached the edge of the circle. Then Loncey, pretending to be fooled by the feint, turned and dived forward to lock his arms about the other’s waist. Together they crashed to the sand and sat up grinning at each other.
‘What now?’ asked Loud Voice, coming forward.
For a moment none of the others replied, but all glanced up towards the sky. Already the sun had sunk down in the west and long shadows spread over the land. With the excitement of the game over, the youngsters became aware of the passing of time. Night would soon be on them and all cast darting looks in the direction of the main village’s glowing fires. Each of the youngsters remembered stories, told around the winter fires of their tepees, about Piamempits , the Big Cannibal Owl. As the sun sank in the west, Piamempits left his home cave in the south slopes of the Wichita Mountains and flew in search of his favourite food, young children who had behaved badly during the day.
‘Let’s go back to the village,’ suggested one of the girls, throwing scared glances at the gloomy darkness of the river-side woods. ‘Perhaps Piamempits will be so hungry that he cannot tell the difference between good and bad children.’
While the words caused most of the children to think about returning home, they tended to have the opposite effect upon Loncey and Loud Voice. Soon the two boys would reach the age when they put aside childish things, ceased playing with little girls and joined the all-male band of adolescent youths in learning to be warriors. So the two boys did not wish to rush back to the village just because the sun happened to be going down.
‘Shall we have another game of “Grizzly Bear”?’ asked Loncey, trying to sound bold and casual.
‘Why not ask a tsukup to come and play “Do you?” with us?’ Loud Voice answered, attempting to appear unconcerned by the possible danger of Piamempits .
Loncey nodded his agreement. Before they could play at ‘Do You?’, an old man had to volunteer his services in the game. Few tsukup ever refused such a request, but finding one meant returning to camp. Once there the group could break up and return to its various homes, giving its leaders an excuse for not returning to the play-area without any hint of being afraid of Piamempits .
‘We can ask old Tamina,’ Loncey said. ‘He will always find time to play.’
‘Let’s go then,’ replied Loud Voice. ‘I know where to find—”
At that moment they all heard the eerie, spine-chilling sound of an owl hooting among the trees—only sounding far louder than the cry made by any normal bird. Being shrewd practical
On making the first capture, Loncey changed the course of the game. Instead of a single line coming, now he had to protect the ‘sugar’ from the individual rushes. Darting in, the children either grabbed off a handful of sand or were captured and ‘eaten’. Such games developed hard, tireless muscles, especially when acting as the ‘grizzly bear’ and Loncey showed no signs of tiring even after defending the ‘sugar’ continuously for over an hour. All the girls fell victim early in the game, but the boys proved more elusive. Darting around, leaping over the mound, flashing from side to side, Loncey captured boy after boy, ‘eating’ them and sending them to watch from the sidelines. Of course he could not protect the entire area at once and the mound diminished gradually as the number of boys decreased.
Comes For Food evaded Loncey until the last. With the complete circle to move in and only one assailant to watch, Loncey could protect the ‘sugar’ easily. Making a feint at going left, Comes For Food lunged suddenly to the right. Shrieks of delight rose from the spectators as he reached the edge of the circle. Then Loncey, pretending to be fooled by the feint, turned and dived forward to lock his arms about the other’s waist. Together they crashed to the sand and sat up grinning at each other.
‘What now?’ asked Loud Voice, coming forward.
For a moment none of the others replied, but all glanced up towards the sky. Already the sun had sunk down in the west and long shadows spread over the land. With the excitement of the game over, the youngsters became aware of the passing of time. Night would soon be on them and all cast darting looks in the direction of the main village’s glowing fires. Each of the youngsters remembered stories, told around the winter fires of their tepees, about Piamempits , the Big Cannibal Owl. As the sun sank in the west, Piamempits left his home cave in the south slopes of the Wichita Mountains and flew in search of his favourite food, young children who had behaved badly during the day.
‘Let’s go back to the village,’ suggested one of the girls, throwing scared glances at the gloomy darkness of the river-side woods. ‘Perhaps Piamempits will be so hungry that he cannot tell the difference between good and bad children.’
While the words caused most of the children to think about returning home, they tended to have the opposite effect upon Loncey and Loud Voice. Soon the two boys would reach the age when they put aside childish things, ceased playing with little girls and joined the all-male band of adolescent youths in learning to be warriors. So the two boys did not wish to rush back to the village just because the sun happened to be going down.
‘Shall we have another game of “Grizzly Bear”?’ asked Loncey, trying to sound bold and casual.
‘Why not ask a tsukup to come and play “Do you?” with us?’ Loud Voice answered, attempting to appear unconcerned by the possible danger of Piamempits .
Loncey nodded his agreement. Before they could play at ‘Do You?’, an old man had to volunteer his services in the game. Few tsukup ever refused such a request, but finding one meant returning to camp. Once there the group could break up and return to its various homes, giving its leaders an excuse for not returning to the play-area without any hint of being afraid of Piamempits .
‘We can ask old Tamina,’ Loncey said. ‘He will always find time to play.’
‘Let’s go then,’ replied Loud Voice. ‘I know where to find—”
At that moment they all heard the eerie, spine-chilling sound of an owl hooting among the trees—only sounding far louder than the cry made by any normal bird. Being shrewd practical
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