Black Elk relates Watanye’s story: The Indian High Horse is lovesick for an Indian girl whose parents guard her jealously. He offers the parents two horses for their daughter, then four, but the parents continue to refuse. The girl herself will not run away with him because she wants the distinction of being bought. High Horse consults with his friend Red Deer, who advises him to steal the girl. High Horse sneaks into the girl’s tepee, but frightens her, and the alerted adults chase him away. In another unsuccessful attempt, Red Deer strips High Horse and paints him to look like a spirit, but High Horse falls asleep. The terrified people who discover him in the morning chase him from camp. Finally, High Horse and Red Deer decide to go on the warpath. After killing the Crow horse guard, they steal some horses belonging to the Crow Indians and offer the whole herd to the girl’s parents who give her to High Horse as a reward for his persistence and ingenuity.
