Every evening Hake visited his intended wife and many happy
evenings they spent together.
The morning of the tenth day the two friends left the village and
turned their faces toward the west where the camps of the enemy are
more numerous than in any other direction. They were not mounted
and therefore traveled slowly, so it took about ten days of walking
before they saw any signs of the enemy. The old warriors had told
them of a thickly wooded creek within the enemies' bounds. The old
men said, "That creek looks the ideal place to camp, but don't camp
there by any means, because there is a ghost who haunts that creek,
and any one who camps there is disturbed all through the night, and
besides they never return, because the ghost is Wakan (holy), and
the enemies conquer the travelers every time."
The friends had extra moccasins with them and one extra blanket, as
it was late in the fall and the nights were very cold.
They broke camp early one morning and walked all day. Along
towards evening, the clouds which had been threatening all day,
hurriedly opened their doors and down came the snowflakes thick and
fast. Just before it started snowing the friends had noticed a
dark line about two miles in advance of them. Chaske spoke to his
friend and said: "If this storm continues we will be obliged to
stay overnight at Ghost Creek, as I noticed it not far ahead of us,
just before the storm set in.
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