The doors were open and men
working at something. A pig wandered in from the barnyard. Then the
boys heard a sudden scuffle, and a squeal from the pig as it scrambled
out again, and Raften's voice: "Consarn them pigs! Them boys ought to
be here to herd them." This was sufficiently alarming to scare the
Warriors off in great haste. They hid in the huge root-cellar and
there held a council of war.
"Here, Great Chiefs of Sanger," said Yan, "behold I take three straws.
That long one is for the Great Woodpecker, the middle size is for
Little Beaver, and the short thick one with the bump on the end and
a crack on top is Sappy. Now I will stack them up in a bunch and let
them fall, then whichever way they point we must go, for this is Big
Medicine."
So the straws fell. Sam's straw pointed nearly to the house, Yan's a
little to the south of the house, and Guy's right back home.
"Aha, Sappy, you got to go home; the straw says so."
"I ain't goin' to believe no such foolishness."
"It's awful unlucky to go against it."
"I don't care, I ain't goin' back," said Guy doggedly.
"Well, my straw says go to the house; that means go scouting for milk,
I reckon."
Yan's straw pointed toward the garden, and Guy's to the residence and
grounds of "J.
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