Free When the Legends Die by Hal Borland Page A

try to stop the bear.
    They went inside and Blue Elk led the way to a white man seated behind a desk. The man looked up and said, “Hello, Blue Elk.” Then he saw the boy and the bear. ‘What’s that bear doing here?” he demanded sharply.
    “The bear belongs to the boy,” Blue Elk said uneasily. “I have brought the boy to talk to the agent. He should be in school.”
    “Get that damned bear out of here!” the man ordered.
    “Yes,” Blue Elk said. “The bear should be put in a strong pen. But you will have to do this.” Then he added, “The boy does not understand your talk. He speaks only Ute.”
    The man said, “Tell him to stay right there with his bear,” and he hurried away. He came back with a strong collar and a chain. He handed them to Blue Elk. “Put the collar on the bear.” The bear was watching him, wrinkling its nose as though it did not like his smell. But it stood quietly, the boy’s hand on its neck.
    Blue Elk turned to the boy. “The man wants you to put this collar on the bear.”
    “My brother does not need this collar,” the boy said.
    “Put it on him. It is so he will not be hurt. These people do not understand bears. They are afraid of bears, and they cannot listen to you when they are afraid. Put it on him.”
    Reluctantly, the boy fastened the collar on the bear cub.
    “Come on,” the man from the desk said. “Bring the bear.”
    They followed the man outside. He led the way to the log pen where they kept wild horses while they were being broken. In the middle of the pen a strong post was set in the ground. Watching the bear and staying carefully away from him, the man took the end of the chain and fastened it to the post. “Now,” he said, “I’ll see if the agent wants to talk to you. Come on.”
    “Come,” Blue Elk said to the boy. “The bear must stay here.”
    “I do not like this thing.”
    “Come. The head man cannot hear what you have to say unless the bear stays here.”
    “My brother will not like this thing.”
    “That is the way it must be. Come!”
    The boy spoke into the bear’s ear, then reluctantly went with Blue Elk. The man from the desk locked the gate and they went back into the headquarters building. “You were a fool to bring that bear here, Blue Elk,” the man said sharply. “A cub that size can be dangerous. Don’t you know that?”
    “The boy would not come without him,” Blue Elk said. “The preacher told me to bring him in. I did this the only way I could do it.”
    The man left them at the desk and went to a door down the hallway. After a few minutes he came out and motioned to them. Blue Elk led the way. They went into the office and the man at the desk there said, “Well, Blue Elk, what have you got up your sleeve this time?”
    The agent was a red-faced man with patches of freckles on his face and hands. He had thin sand-colored hair and eyebrows and his eyes were so light blue they looked milky. He wore a dark gray suit with a closely buttoned vest, a white shirt and a blue necktie. His neck was fat; it bulged over his collar.
    “I brought this boy,” Blue Elk said. “The preacher in Pagosa said he should be in school.”
    The agent looked at the boy. He smiled, then frowned and said to Blue Elk, “Who is he? What is he doing running around in a clout? I understand you were stupid enough to bring a bear cub, too. But that’s taken care of. Who is this boy?”
    “His name is Thomas Black Bull. He was baptized with that name. He has been living by himself, off the reservation.”
    The agent looked at the boy again. “Is this true?” he asked. “Is Blue Elk telling the truth?”
    The boy stared at him, bewildered, then looked at Blue Elk.
    “He speaks only Ute,” Blue Elk said.
    “How does that happen? These kids pick up at least a smattering of English, no matter where they live.”
    “He has no English,” Blue Elk said. “He has no father.no mother. They are dead. He has been living alone, in the old