Free When the Legends Die by Hal Borland

the food baskets, all the things worth silver dollars. Now that he had found the lodge, he could return. Even if the agent did not pay him five dollars, as the preacher had said he might, Blue Elk could be well paid for the journey. Then he put that thought away and told himself that winter is long and cold and hungry. This boy should not be here alone in the winter. That was why he had come, he told himself, to see that the boy was not cold and hungry and alone. I came for the boy’s good, he told himself, for the good of my people.
    The boy turned from the doorway, his decision made. “I will sing the songs and tell the stories,” he said, and he put on leggings to protect his legs in the brush. The bear cub came and licked his hand and whined, and he said, “The jay and the squirrels will stay here and watch for strangers till I return, but you will go with me, Brother.” Then he turned to Blue Elk and said, “Come. We will go with you to Ignacio.”
    That is how it happened.

II. The School

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    L IKE ALL HORSES, B LUE Elk’s pony was afraid of bears. He had to send the boy and the cub ahead and walk and lead the pony that first morning. The next day was easier until they approached Piedra Town and Blue Elk realized that the bear would create an uproar and possibly shooting in the town. So he went around the town, through the rugged hills, and reached the road to Bayfield. They traveled that road until they met a horseman who fired several shots at the bear from his revolver. But his horse was dancing all over the road and the shots were wild, and before the man could hit the bear the horse bolted with him.
    Blue Elk led the way into the hills again, and on the third day they came to the road south from Bayfield to the agency on the reservation. Few people were on that road, so they followed it. The Utes, even reservation Utes, respected bears. They would shrug off such unexpected things as the sight of a boy in a clout with a bear cub at his heels.
    But when they came in sight of the agency Blue Elk wondered why he had done things this way. He wished he could do things over again and be rid of the bear, which made everything hard to manage. But things were as they were. They could not be changed now.
    He said, “The bear must stay with you until I tell these people about him. Our people will not make trouble, but the others do not understand these things.”
    The boy did not understand either, but he nodded.
    There were many buildings at the agency, the headquarters and the school and the dormitory and the barns and stables and the pens and corrals. A flagpole stood in front of the headquarters, with a red, white and blue flag at the top. The boy watched the flag, wondering what it meant. Then he looked at the people hurrying from one building to another. Besides the men, who were all dressed in white man’s clothes, there were boys and girls, Indians but also wearing white man’s clothing. There were more boys and girls than he had ever seen. Only the girls wore their hair in braids, which was a strange thing to see.
    Blue Elk said, “We are going to talk to the agent, the head man. He will ask questions and you must not make lies to him. He will want to hear what you have to say, but first you must do as he says. Do you understand what I say?”
    The boy understood Blue Elk’s words, but he did not know what Blue Elk meant by those words. He said to the bear, “We will talk to the head man in this big lodge.”
    Blue Elk said, “If the bear makes trouble, the head man will not listen to what you have to say.”
    The boy nodded and they went on.
    Outside the headquarters were half a dozen Indians in blue pants and blue shirts and black shoes. They all had short hair. When they saw the boy and the bear with Blue Elk they talked among themselves, and when Blue Elk and the boy and the bear went up the sidewalk to the doorway the men there moved back and made plenty of room. They did not talk and they did not