| Show During the summer months as the cattle grazed Will and the Indian youths taught each other many things One of Willfavorites was how the Indians searched for bird eggs They crept in near silence to places where birds might likely have built nests Ever so carefully they reached under rocks over branches in holes inside hollow trees-usually bringing out the sought-after treasures Will liked to try to guess what color eggs were in each nest By the end of the season Will was nearly as adept at finding nests with eggs in them as were his red frierds Seldom did he disturb the birds even when he reached into the nests under them Then one day the inevitable happened Will carefully reached deep intohollow trurk near the ground and punciil1ously began feeling for eggs Suddenly up the side of his arm shot an ugly black snake startling Will so he forgot about hunting for eggs the rest of the day in fact Will never was an avid egg hunter after that And so the summers passed Will spent time with the cattle and with the Indians learning from both--things he could never have learned at home nor in the classroom He was glad to leave the valley fortime as the days grew shorter and colder but he looked forward eagerly to other summers in the big field with the cows and the Indians The winters too passed quickly Will helped his parents and studied whenever he had the chance Someday perhaps he would be atle to go to far-off Provo to attend Brigham Young Academy But his parents would never allow him to spend some money for education in Provo if he did not apply himself to learn all he could from the local teachers The summer of 1872 when he was nine brought more adventures--the Wahpitts boys and Will again riding through the valley playing among the cedars and Kill learning more of the customs and language of his Indian friends And he worked hard tock good care of the cattle that were in his charge reinforcing his well-earned reputation for integrity and hard work Again in the early fall Will returned the cattle to town for the last time for another season Will had never been afraid of his friends the Wahpitts or other Indians he had met But for years other Indians had been terrorizing settlers in areas close around them Will heard many stories of Indian attacks and the seeningly senseless killing of settlers but had never actually been involved with unfriendly savages |
