text: 5
  
  The next morning, they settled the new saddles on the horses, shoved their Winchesters into the scabbards and mounted.
  
  "I would think we'd be there by noon, Paulie."
  
  "It'll be a rare thing to see the country from my own horse."
  
  "Yep, that liveryman gave you a steal on that bay," Grit said.
  
  When they traveled across the reservation, they saw several small villages with teepees, but they traveled on until they found a large village which had what looked like at least 50 teepees that ran along a lake which appeared to be an attraction for ducks and geese. It looked as though the other side of the lake was more like a marsh where the birds liked to congregate, but now all the ducks and geese were stopping only briefly before heading farther south.
  
  As they rode into the village, there were onlookers who stopped to watch them. They didn't seem hostile, for which Grit was grateful. He thought they were merely curious about why these white men had come to the village.
  
  Grit stopped beside a man standing outside his teepee and said, "We'd like to buy some buffalo hides and thought someone in the village might sell us some."
  
  The man looked at Grit and Paulie like he didn't understand. Grit shrugged and moved on and stopped by another man. "Is there someone here who speaks English?" This man also stared at Grit as if he didn't understand.
  
  Paulie yelled, "Anybody here speak English?"
  
  A woman came forward and asked, "What is it you want?"
  
  Grit looked down on a Sioux woman with a serene face who had long black hair held in place with a leather clasp with a sharp stick through holes in the leather. She was wearing a deer hide dress with blue beadwork at the front and on the shoulders. She wore moccasins with the same blue beadwork.
  
  "We were hoping we could buy or trade for some buffalo hides," Grit said, "that is if the tribe has extras you don't need this winter. If you don't have extras, then we'll move on along."
  
  "I am called Sunset," she said. "How many buffalo hides do you want?"
  
  "We could use five or six," Grit said.
  
  "Do you live around here?" Sunset asked.
  
  "We live west of here," Grit said. "We've bought land from the government and built a house.
  
  "Oh, you're the ones," Sunset said. "We know all about your house on the river." Grit glanced at Paulie.
  
  "Our men have seen it, but don't worry," Sunset said. "We won't trouble you. Come with me."
  
  She led the way down through the village and stopped in front of a teepee where an elderly man sat on a blanket. "This is Chief White Eagle, chief of the tribe. You can get off your horses now." Then Sunset turned to the chief and spoke in the Siouxan dialect.
  
  "The chief wants to know what you have to trade," she told Grit.
  
  "We have paper money only," he said.
  
  Sunset spoke once more with White Eagle, then turned to Grit. "How attached are you to the rifle you have? Chief White Eagle would like to trade for it."
  
  Grit looked at Paulie who shrugged. "I guess we could do that. How many buffalo robes would he be willing to give me for the rifle?"
  
  She spoke once more with the chief and turned. "He'll give you four robes for the rifle."
  
  Grit was about to shake his head 'no,' but refrained. "Tell the chief I'll need at least nine buffalo robes for the rifle."
  
  Sunset smiled at Grit before turning to the chief and speaking with him. "Chief White Eagle says he might be willing to give five robes."
  
  "Then I guess I'll keep the rifle," Grit said.
  
  Sunset hesitated. "You have to understand, bargaining is part of a process that Sioux men enjoy. If I tell him what you said, he'll be offended."
  
  Grit thought for a few seconds before saying, "Thank you for tellin' me that. Tell him I might be willing to accept eight buffalo robes for the rifle, but that does not include cartridges."
  
  She smiled at Grit once more and turned to the chief. After speaking with him, she said, "Chief White Eagle says he might give six buffalo robes for the rifle and 50 cartridges."
  
  "I couldn't accept less than eight buffalo robes," Grit said, "especially now that I'm giving up 50 cartridges."
  
  "How 'bout I just ask him if he'll meet in the middle at seven buffalo robes?" she asked.
  
  Grit nodded, and she discussed it with the chief who agreed. He stood and thrust his hand forward and grasped Grit's wrist and Grit did the same.
  
  "Now, you have a deal," Sunset said. "It's like a contract in your land."
  
  "So that means I have to give him my Winchester?" Grit asked.
  
  "Correct," Sunset said with a smile, "and the 50 cartridges."
  
  "Well, tell him there's 17 in the rifle's magazine, and... ," Grit said as he reached into his saddlebags and came out with a box of cartridges, "... and I'll give him the rest of this box, which in total makes more than 50."
  
  He handed the rifle and cartridges to Chief White Eagle. He raised them high into the air and yelled, "Wash-tay."
  
  "What does that mean?" Grit asked.
  
  "It means 'it is beautiful.' He's speaking of the rifle, of the deal. It's a way of celebrating," Sunset said as she smiled. "He believes he got the best of you in the deal. I think you both did fine. Come with me, and we'll get your buffalo robes."
  
  Later they rode from the camp with buffalo robes rolled up and tied onto their horses while Grit and Paulie walked. "These hides are heavy," Grit said. "I'm bettin' these bull hides weigh close to 40 pounds."