{"collection":"myth-cosmogony","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_28099/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_28099","id":"gutenberg_28099","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/28099","summary":null,"tags":["Category: Children & Young Adult Reading","Category: Mythology, Legends & Folklore","Dakota Indians -- Folklore"],"text":"E-text prepared by D. Alexander, Meredith Bach, the Carbon County Public\nLibrary (Rawlins, Wyoming), and the Project Gutenberg Online Distributed\nProofreading Team (https://www.pgdp.net)\n\n\n\nNote: Project Gutenberg also has an HTML version of this\n      file which includes the original illustrations.\n      See 28099-h.htm or 28099-h.zip:\n      (https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/2/8/0/9/28099/28099-h/28099-h.htm)\n      or\n      (https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/2/8/0/9/28099/28099-h.zip)\n\n\n\n\n\nWIGWAM EVENINGS\n\nSioux Folk Tales Retold\n\nby\n\nCHARLES A. EASTMAN (_Ohiyesa_) and ELAINE GOODALE EASTMAN\n\nIllustrated by Edwin Willard Deming\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nBOSTON\nLITTLE, BROWN, AND COMPANY\n1928\n\nCopyright, 1909,\nby Little, Brown, and Company\nAll rights reserved\n\nPrinted in the United States of America\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration: THE STRANGER WATCHES THE LAUGH-MAKER AND THE BEARS.\n\nFRONTISPIECE. _See page 189_]\n\n\n\n\n_BOOKS BY CHARLES A. EASTMAN_\n\n\n INDIAN BOYHOOD\n\n FROM THE DEEP WOODS TO CIVILIZATION\n\n OLD INDIAN DAYS\n\n INDIAN SCOUT TALKS\n\n INDIAN HEROES AND GREAT CHIEFTAINS\n\n\n_In Collaboration with ELAINE G. EASTMAN_\n\n WIGWAM EVENINGS\n\n\n\n\nNOTE\n\n\n_The authors wish to acknowledge the courtesy of The Ladies' Home\nJournal, Good Housekeeping, and The Woman's Home Companion, in giving\npermission to include in this volume several stories which first\nappeared in their pages._\n\n\n\n\nPREFACE\n\n\nThese scattered leaves from the unwritten school-book of the wilderness\nhave been gathered together for the children of to-day; both as a slight\ncontribution to the treasures of aboriginal folk-lore, and with the\nspecial purpose of adapting them to the demands of the American school\nand fireside. That is to say, we have chosen from a mass of material the\nshorter and simpler stories and parts of stories, and have not always\ninsisted upon a literal rendering, but taken such occasional liberties\nwith the originals as seemed necessary to fit them to the exigencies of\nan unlike tongue and to the sympathies of an alien race.\n\nNevertheless, we hope and think that we have been able to preserve in\nthe main the true spirit and feeling of these old tales--tales that have\nbeen handed down by oral tradition alone through many generations of\nsimple and story-loving people. The \"Creation myths\" and others rich in\nmeaning have been treated very simply, as their symbolism is too\ncomplicated for very young readers; and much of the characteristic\ndetail of the rambling native story-teller has been omitted. A story\nthat to our thinking is most effectively told in a brief ten minutes is\nby him made to fill a long evening by dint of minute and realistic\ndescription of every stage of a journey, each camp made, every feature\nof a ceremony performed, and so on indefinitely. True, the attention of\nhis unlettered listeners never flags; but our sophisticated youngsters\nwould soon weary, we fear, of any such repetition.\n\nThere are stories here of different types, each of which has its\nprototype or parallel in the nursery tales of other nations. The animal\nfables of the philosophic red man are almost as terse and satisfying as\nthose of Aesop, of whom they put us strongly in mind. A little further\non we meet with brave and fortunate heroes, and beautiful princesses,\nand wicked old witches, and magical transformations, and all the other\ndear, familiar material of fairy lore, combined with a touch that is\nunfamiliar and fascinating.\n\nThe \"Little Boy Man,\" the Adam of the Sioux, has a singular interest for\nus in that he is a sort of grown-up child, or a \"Peter Pan\" who never\nreally grows up, and whose Eve-less Eden is a world where all the\nanimals are his friends and killing for any purpose is unknown. Surely\nthe red man's secret ideal must have been not war, but peace! The\nelements, indeed, are shown to be at war, as in the battle between Heat\nand Frost, or that of the mighty Thunder and the monstrous Deep; but let\nit be noted here that these conflicts are far more poetic and less\nbloody than those of Jack the Giant-killer and other redoubtable heroes\nof the Anglo-Saxon nursery.\n\nThe animal loves are strange--perhaps even repellent; yet our children\nhave read of a prince who falls in love with a White Cat; in the story\nof \"The Runaways\" we come upon the old, old ruse of magic barriers\ninterposed between pursuer and pursued; and Andersen's charming fantasy\nof \"The Woodcutter's Child\" who disobeyed her Guardian Angel has\nscarcely a more delicate pathos than the \"Ghost Wife.\"\n\nThere are, to be sure, certain characters in this forest wonder-world\nthat are purely and unmistakably Indian; yet after all Unk-to-mee, the\nsly one, whose adventures are endless, may be set beside quaint \"Brer\nFox\" of Negro folk-lore, and Chan-o-te-dah is obviously an Indian\nbrownie or gnome, while monstrous E-ya and wicked Double-Face\nre-incarnate the cannibal giants of our nursery days. Real children\neverywhere have lively imaginations that feed upon such robust marvels\nas these; and in many of us elders, I hope, enough of the child is left\nto find pleasure in a literature so vital, so human in its appeal, and\none that, old as it is, has for the most part never until now put on the\nself-consciousness of type.\n\nThe stories are more particularly intended to be read beside an open\nfire to children of five years old and upward, or in the school-room by\nthe nine, ten, eleven-year-olds in the corresponding grades.\n\n                                                               E. G. E.\n\n\n\n\nCONTENTS\n\n\n\n EVENINGS                                                         PAGE\n\n FIRST           THE BUFFALO AND THE FIELD-MOUSE                     1\n\n SECOND          THE FROGS AND THE CRANE                            15\n\n THIRD           THE EAGLE AND THE BEAVER                           25\n\n FOURTH          THE WAR PARTY                                      31\n\n FIFTH           THE FALCON AND THE DUCK                            39\n\n SIXTH           THE RACCOON AND THE BEE-TREE                       49\n\n SEVENTH         THE BADGER AND THE BEAR                            61\n\n EIGHTH          THE GOOD-LUCK TOKEN                                71\n\n NINTH           UNKTOMEE AND HIS BUNDLE OF SONGS                   79\n\n TENTH           UNKTOMEE AND THE ELK                               89\n\n ELEVENTH        THE FESTIVAL OF THE LITTLE PEOPLE                  99\n\n TWELFTH         EYA THE DEVOURER                                  107\n\n THIRTEENTH      THE WARS OF WA-KEE-YAN AND UNK-TAY-HEE            115\n\n FOURTEENTH      THE LITTLE BOY MAN                                123\n\n FIFTEENTH       THE RETURN OF THE LITTLE BOY MAN                  131\n\n SIXTEENTH       THE FIRST BATTLE                                  139\n\n SEVENTEENTH     THE BELOVED OF THE SUN                            147\n\n EIGHTEENTH      WOOD-CHOPPER AND BERRY-PICKER                     155\n\n NINETEENTH      THE SON-IN-LAW                                    165\n\n TWENTIETH       THE COMRADES                                      175\n\n TWENTY-FIRST    THE LAUGH-MAKER                                   185\n\n TWENTY-SECOND   THE RUNAWAYS                                      193\n\n TWENTY-THIRD    THE GIRL WHO MARRIED THE STAR                     203\n\n TWENTY-FOURTH   NORTH WIND AND STAR BOY                           211\n\n TWENTY-FIFTH    THE TEN VIRGINS                                   221\n\n TWENTY-SIXTH    THE MAGIC ARROWS                                  231\n\n TWENTY-SEVENTH  THE GHOST-WIFE                                    243\n\n\n\n\nILLUSTRATIONS\n\n\n                                                                       PAGE\n\n THE STRANGER WATCHES THE LAUGH-MAKER AND THE BEARS          _Frontispiece_\n\n SMOKY DAY TELLING TALES OF OLD DAYS AROUND HIS FIRE                      5\n\n JUST THEN A FOX CREPT UP BEHIND THE CRANE                               23\n\n THE FALCON CHASES THE OLD DRAKE                                         43\n\n \"COME DOWN, FRIENDS!\" CALLED THE RACCOON                                54\n\n SO THEY RAN AND THEY RAN OUT OF THE WOODS ON TO THE\n SHINING WHITE BEACH                                                     57\n\n \"I WOULD NOT TROUBLE YOU,\" SAID HE, \"BUT MY LITTLE\n FOLKS ARE STARVING\"                                                     67\n\n \"OH, THAT IS ONLY A BUNDLE OF OLD SONGS,\" REPLIED\n UNKTOMEE                                                                83\n\n TANAGELA AND HER LITTLE BROTHER                                         91\n\n WITH HIS LONG SPEAR HE STABBED EACH OF THE MONSTERS                    129\n\n HE CAME TO A LITTLE HUT WHERE LIVED AN OLD BEAR                        162\n\n \"DO NOT SHOOT A WHITE DEER WHEN YOU SEE HIM COMING\n TOWARD YOU\"                                                            171\n\n THEY STOOD THUS WITH THEIR BEAKS TOUCHING OVER THE STREAM              200\n\n STAR BOY ATTACKED BY HINHAN, THE OWL                                   215\n\n SHE TOOK UP HANDSFUL OF ASHES TO THROW INTO THEIR FACES                227\n\n HE OFFERED UP THE BODY AS A SACRIFICE                                  235\n\n AT THE TOUCH OF HIS MAGIC ARROW, IT FELL AT HIS FEET                   240\n\n HE WAS ONCE SEEN WITH SEVERAL DEER ABOUT HIM, PETTING\n AND HANDLING THEM                                                      247\n\n\n\n\nFIRST EVENING\n\nTHE BUFFALO AND THE FIELD-MOUSE\n\n\n\n\nWIGWAM EVENINGS\n\n\n\n\nFIRST EVENING\n\n\nThe cold December moon is just showing above the tree-tops, pointing a\nwhite finger here and there at the clustered teepees of the Sioux, while\nopposite their winter camp on the lake shore a lonely, wooded island is\nspread like a black buffalo robe between the white, snow-covered ice and\nthe dull gray sky.\n\nAll by itself at the further end of the village stands the teepee of\nSmoky Day, the old story-teller, the school-master of the woods. The\npaths that lead to this low brown wigwam are well beaten; deep, narrow\ntrails, like sheep paths, in the hard-frozen snow.\n\nTo-night a generous fire of logs gives both warmth and light inside the\nteepee, and the old man is calmly filling his long, red pipe for the\nsmoke of meditation, when the voices and foot-steps of several children\nare distinctly heard through the stillness of the winter night.\n\nThe door-flap is raised, and the nine-year-old Tanagela, the\nHumming-bird, slips in first, with her roguish black eyes and her shy\nsmile.\n\n\"Grandmother, we have come to hear a story,\" she murmurs. \"I have\nbrought you a sun-dried buffalo-tongue, grandmother!\"\n\n[Illustration: SMOKY DAY TELLING TALES OF OLD DAYS AROUND HIS FIRE.\n\n_Page 5_]\n\nOne by one the little people of the village follow her, and all seat\nthemselves on the ground about the central fire until the circle is well\nfilled. Then the old man lays down his pipe, clears his throat once or\ntwice and begins in a serious voice:\n\n\"These old stories for which you ask teach us the way of life, my\ngrandchildren. The Great-Grandfather of all made us all; therefore we\nare brothers.\n\n\"In many of the stories the people have a common language, which now the\nGreat Mystery has taken away from us, and has put a barrier between us\nand them, so that we can no longer converse together and understand the\nspeech of the animal people.\n\n\"Observe, further, that silence is greater than speech. This is why we\nhonor the animals, who are more silent than man, and we reverence the\ntrees and rocks, where the Great Mystery lives undisturbed, in a peace\nthat is never broken.\n\n\"Let no one ask a question until the story is finished.\"\n\n\nTHE BUFFALO AND THE FIELD-MOUSE\n\nOnce upon a time, when the Field-Mouse was out gathering wild beans for\nthe winter, his neighbor, the Buffalo, came down to graze in the meadow.\nThis the little Mouse did not like, for he knew that the other would mow\ndown all the long grass with his prickly tongue, and there would be no\nplace in which to hide. He made up his mind to offer battle like a man.\n\n\"Ho, Friend Buffalo, I challenge you to a fight!\" he exclaimed in a\nsmall, squeaking voice.\n\nThe Buffalo paid no attention, no doubt thinking it only a joke. The\nMouse angrily repeated the challenge, and still his enemy went on\nquietly grazing. Then the little Mouse laughed with contempt as he\noffered his defiance. The Buffalo at last looked at him and replied\ncarelessly:\n\n\"You had better keep still, little one, or I shall come over there and\nstep on you, and there will be nothing left!\"\n\n\"You can't do it!\" replied the Mouse.\n\n\"I tell you to keep still,\" insisted the Buffalo, who was getting angry.\n\"If you speak to me again, I shall certainly come and put an end to\nyou!\"\n\n\"I dare you to do it!\" said the Mouse, provoking him.\n\nThereupon the other rushed upon him. He trampled the grass clumsily and\ntore up the earth with his front hoofs. When he had ended, he looked for\nthe Mouse, but he could not see him anywhere.\n\n\"I told you I would step on you, and there would be nothing left!\" he\nmuttered.\n\nJust then he felt a scratching inside his right ear. He shook his head\nas hard as he could, and twitched his ears back and forth. The gnawing\nwent deeper and deeper until he was half wild with the pain. He pawed\nwith his hoofs and tore up the sod with his horns. Bellowing madly, he\nran as fast as he could, first straight forward and then in circles, but\nat last he stopped and stood trembling. Then the Mouse jumped out of his\near, and said:\n\n\"Will you own now that I am master?\"\n\n\"No!\" bellowed the Buffalo, and again he started toward the Mouse, as if\nto trample him under his feet. The little fellow was nowhere to be seen,\nbut in a minute the Buffalo felt him in the other ear. Once more he\nbecame wild with pain, and ran here and there over the prairie, at times\nleaping high in the air. At last he fell to the ground and lay quite\nstill. The Mouse came out of his ear, and stood proudly upon his dead\nbody.\n\n\"Eho!\" said he, \"I have killed the greatest of all beasts. This will\nshow to all that I am master!\"\n\nStanding upon the body of the dead Buffalo, he called loudly for a knife\nwith which to dress his game.\n\nIn another part of the meadow, Red Fox, very hungry, was hunting mice\nfor his breakfast. He saw one and jumped upon him with all four feet,\nbut the little Mouse got away, and he was dreadfully disappointed.\n\nAll at once he thought he heard a distant call: \"Bring a knife! Bring a\nknife!\"\n\nWhen the second call came, Red Fox started in the direction of the\nsound. At the first knoll he stopped and listened, but hearing nothing\nmore, he was about to go back. Just then he heard the call plainly, but\nin a very thin voice, \"Bring a knife!\" Red Fox immediately set out\nagain and ran as fast as he could.\n\nBy and by he came upon the huge body of the Buffalo lying upon the\nground. The little Mouse still stood upon the body.\n\n\"I want you to dress this Buffalo for me and I will give you some of the\nmeat,\" commanded the Mouse.\n\n\"Thank you, my friend, I shall be glad to do this for you,\" he replied,\npolitely.\n\nThe Fox dressed the Buffalo, while the Mouse sat upon a mound near by,\nlooking on and giving his orders. \"You must cut the meat into small\npieces,\" he said to the Fox. When the Fox had finished his work, the\nMouse paid him with a small piece of liver. He swallowed it quickly and\nsmacked his lips.\n\n\"Please, may I have another piece?\" he asked quite humbly.\n\n\"Why, I gave you a very large piece! How greedy you are!\" exclaimed the\nMouse. \"You may have some of the blood clots,\" he sneered. So the poor\nFox took the blood clots and even licked off the grass. He was really\nvery hungry.\n\n\"Please may I take home a piece of the meat?\" he begged. \"I have six\nlittle folks at home, and there is nothing for them to eat.\"\n\n\"You can take the four feet of the Buffalo. That ought to be enough for\nall of you!\"\n\n\"Hi, hi! Thank you, thank you!\" said the Fox. \"But, Mouse, I have a wife\nalso, and we have had bad luck in hunting. We are almost starved. Can't\nyou spare me a little more?\"\n\n\"Why,\" declared the Mouse, \"I have already overpaid you for the little\nwork you have done. However, you can take the head, too!\"\n\nThereupon the Fox jumped upon the Mouse, who gave one faint squeak and\ndisappeared.\n\n_If you are proud and selfish you will lose all in the end._\n\n\n\n\nSECOND EVENING\n\nTHE FROGS AND THE CRANE\n\n\n\n\nSECOND EVENING\n\n\nAgain the story-hour is come, and the good old wife of the legend-teller\nhas made her poor home as warm and pleasant as may be, in expectation of\ntheir guests. She is proud of her husband's honorable position as the\nvillage teacher, and makes all the children welcome, as they arrive,\nwith her shrill-voiced, cheerful greeting:\n\n\"Han, han; sit down, sit down; that is right, that is very right, my\ngrandchild!\"\n\nTo-night the Humming-bird has come leading by the hand her small\nbrother, who stumbles along in his fringed, leathern leggings and\nhandsomely beaded moccasins, his chubby, solemn face finished off with\ntwo long, black braids tied with strips of otter-skin. As he is inclined\nto be restless and to talk out of season, she keeps him close beside\nher.\n\n\"It is cold to-night!\" he pipes up suddenly when all is quiet. \"Why do\nwe not listen to these stories in the warm summer-time, elder sister?\"\n\n\"Hush, my little brother!\" Tanagela reproves him with a frightened look.\n\"Have you never heard that if the old stories are told in summer, the\nsnakes will creep into our beds?\" she whispers fearfully.\n\n\"That is true, my granddaughter,\" assents the old man. \"Yet we may tell\na legend of summer days to comfort the heart of the small brother!\"\n\n\nTHE FROGS AND THE CRANE\n\nIn the heart of the woods there lay a cool, green pond. The shores of\nthe pond were set with ranks of tall bulrushes that waved crisply in\nthe wind, and in the shallow bays there were fleets of broad water lily\nleaves. Among the rushes and reeds and in the quiet water there dwelt a\nlarge tribe of Frogs.\n\nOn every warm night of spring, the voices of the Frogs arose in a\ncheerful chorus. Some voices were low and deep--these were the oldest\nand wisest of the Frogs; at least, they were old enough to have learned\nwisdom. Some were high and shrill, and these were the voices of the\nlittle Frogs who did not like to be reminded of the days when they had\ntails and no legs.\n\n\"Kerrump! kerrump! I'm chief of this pond!\" croaked a very large\nbullfrog, sitting in the shade of a water lily leaf.\n\n\"Kerrump! kerrump! I'm chief of this pond!\" replied a hoarse voice from\nthe opposite bank.\n\n\"Kerrump! kerrump! I'm chief of this pond!\" boasted a third old Frog\nfrom the furthest shore of the pond.\n\nNow a long-legged white Crane was standing near by, well hidden by the\ncoarse grass that grew at the water's edge. He was very hungry that\nevening, and when he heard the deep voice of the first Bullfrog he\nstepped briskly up to him and made a quick pass under the broad leaf\nwith his long, cruel bill. The old Frog gave a frightened croak, and\nkicked violently in his efforts to get away, while over the quiet pond,\nsplash! splash! went the startled little Frogs into deep water.\n\nThe Crane almost had him, when something cold and slimy wound itself\nabout one of his legs. He drew back for a second, and the Frog got\nsafely away! But the Crane did not lose his dinner after all, for about\nhis leg was curled a large black water snake, and that made a fair\nmeal.\n\nNow he rested awhile on one leg, and listened. The first Frog was\nsilent, but from the opposite bank the second Frog croaked boastfully:\n\n\"Kerrump! kerrump! I'm chief of this pond!\"\n\nThe Crane began to be hungry again. He went round the pond without\nmaking any noise, and pounced upon the second Frog, who was sitting up\nin plain sight, swelling his chest with pride, for he really thought now\nthat he was the sole chief of the pond.\n\nThe Crane's head and most of his long neck disappeared under the water,\nand all over the pond the little Frogs went splash! splash! into the\ndeepest holes to be out of the way.\n\nJust as he had the Frog by one hind leg, the Crane saw something that\nmade him let go, flap his broad wings and fly awkwardly away to the\nfurthest shore. It was a mink, with his slender brown body and wicked\neyes, and he had crept very close to the Crane, hoping to seize him at\nhis meal! So the second Frog got away too; but he was so dreadfully\nfrightened that he never spoke again.\n\nAfter a long time the Crane got over his fright and he became very\nhungry once more. The pond had been still so long that many of the Frogs\nwere singing their pleasant chorus, and above them all there boomed the\ndeep voice of the third and last Bullfrog, saying:\n\n\"Kerrump! kerrump! I'm chief of this pond!\"\n\nThe Crane stood not far from the boaster, and he determined to silence\nhim once for all. The next time he began to speak, he had barely said\n\"Kerrump!\" when the Crane had him by the leg. He croaked and struggled\nin vain, and in another moment he would have gone down the Crane's long\nthroat.\n\n[Illustration]\n\nBut just then a Fox crept up behind the Crane and seized _him_! The\nCrane let go the Frog and was carried off screaming into the woods for\nthe Fox's supper. So the third Frog got away; but he was badly lamed by\nthe Crane's strong bill, and he never dared to open his mouth again.\n\n_It is not a wise thing to boast too loudly._\n\n\n\n\nTHIRD EVENING\n\nTHE EAGLE AND THE BEAVER\n\n\n\n\nTHIRD EVENING\n\n\n\"No, elder sister, it is not for a hunter and a brave to fetch wood for\nthe lodge fire! That is woman's task, and it is not right that you\nshould ask it of me.\"\n\n\"But see, my younger brother, you are only a small boy and can neither\nhunt nor fight; surely, therefore, it is well for you to help our mother\nat home!\"\n\nThe two children, Wasula and Chatanna, as they draw near the old\nstory-teller's wigwam, are carrying on a dispute that has arisen between\nthem earlier in the evening, when dry sticks were to be gathered for\ncooking the supper, and Chatanna, aged seven, refused to help his\nsister on the ground that it is not a warrior's duty to provide wood.\nBoth appeal to their teacher to settle the question.\n\n\"Hun, hun, hay!\" good-naturedly exclaims the old man. \"Truly, there is\nmuch to be said on both sides; but perhaps you can agree more easily\nafter you have heard my story.\"\n\n\nTHE EAGLE AND THE BEAVER\n\nOut of the quiet blue sky there shot like an arrow the great War-eagle.\nBeside the clear brown stream an old Beaver-woman was busily chopping\nwood. Yet she was not too busy to catch the whir of descending wings,\nand the Eagle reached too late the spot where she had vanished in the\nmidst of the shining pool.\n\nHe perched sullenly upon a dead tree near by and kept his eyes steadily\nupon the smooth sheet of water above the dam.\n\nAfter a time the water was gently stirred and a sleek, brown head\ncautiously appeared above it.\n\n\"What right have you,\" reproached the Beaver-woman, \"to disturb thus the\nmother of a peaceful and hard-working people?\"\n\n\"Ugh, I am hungry,\" the Eagle replied shortly.\n\n\"Then why not do as we do--let other folks alone and work for a living?\"\n\n\"That is all very well for you,\" the Eagle retorted, \"but not everybody\ncan cut down trees with his teeth, or live upon bark and weeds in a\nmud-plastered wigwam. I am a warrior, not an old woman!\"\n\n\"It is true that some people are born trouble-makers,\" returned the\nBeaver, quietly. \"Yet I see no good reason why you, as well as we,\nshould not be content with plain fare and willing to toil for what you\nwant. My work, moreover, is of use to others besides myself and family,\nfor with my dam-building I deepen the stream for the use of all the\ndwellers therein, while you are a terror to all living creatures that\nare weaker than yourself. You would do well to profit by my example.\"\n\nSo saying, she dove down again to the bottom of the pool.\n\nThe Eagle waited patiently for a long time, but he saw nothing more of\nher; and so, in spite of his contempt for the harmless industry of an\nold Beaver-woman, it was he, not she, who was obliged to go hungry that\nmorning.\n\n_Pride alone will not fill the stomach._\n\n\n\n\nFOURTH EVENING\n\nTHE WAR-PARTY\n\n\n\n\nFOURTH EVENING\n\n\nThere is no greater rudeness than to interrupt a story-teller, even by\nthe slightest movement. All Sioux children are drilled in this rule of\nbehavior, as in many others, from their earliest babyhood, and old Smoky\nDay has seldom to complain of any lack of attention. Even Teona and\nWaola, active boys of eleven and twelve, and already daring hunters,\nwould be ashamed to draw upon themselves by word or motion the reproving\nlooks of their mates. A disturbance so serious as to deserve the notice\nof the old teacher himself would disgrace them all!\n\n\"Although we shall hear again of the animal people,\" he begins\npleasantly but with due gravity, \"and even of some who are not animals\nat all, we must remember that each of these warriors of whom I shall\ntell you really represents a man, and the special weakness of each\nshould remind us to inquire of our own weakness. In this life, it is\noften the slow one who wins in the end; and this we shall now see!\"\n\n\nTHE WAR-PARTY\n\nOne day the Turtle made ready to go upon the war-path. His comrades who\nwished to go with him were Live Coals, Ashes, the Bulrush, the\nGrasshopper, the Dragonfly and the Pickerel. All seven warriors went on\nin good spirits to the first camp, where a strong wind arose in the\nearly morning and blew the Ashes away.\n\n\"Iho!\" exclaimed the others, \"this one was no warrior!\"\n\nThe six kept on their way, and the second day they came to a river.\nThere Live Coals perished at the crossing. \"S-s-s,\" he said, and was\ngone!\n\n\"Ah!\" declared the five, \"it is easy to see that he could not fight!\"\n\nOn the further side of the river they looked back, and saw that the\nBulrush had stayed behind. He stood still and waved his hand to the\nothers, who grumbled among themselves, saying:\n\n\"He was no true brave, that one!\"\n\nThe four who were left went on till they came to a swampy place, and\nthere the Grasshopper stuck fast. In his struggles to get out of the bog\nhe pulled both legs off, and so there were only three to go upon the\nwar-path!\n\nThe Dragonfly mourned for his friend. He cried bitterly, and finally\nblew his nose so hard that his slender neck broke in two.\n\n\"Ah!\" declared the other two, \"we are better off without those feeble\nones!\"\n\nThe Pickerel and the Turtle, being left alone, advanced bravely into the\ncountry of the enemy. At the head of the lake they were met and quickly\nsurrounded. The Pickerel escaped by swimming, but the Turtle, that slow\none, was caught!\n\nThey took him to the village, and there the head men held a council to\ndecide what should be done with him.\n\n\"We will build a fire and roast him alive in the midst of it,\" one\nproposed.\n\n\"Hi-i-i!\" the Turtle shrilled his war-cry. \"That is the brave death I\nwould choose! I shall trample the fire, and scatter live coals among the\npeople!\"\n\n\"No,\" declared another, \"we will boil water and throw him into the pot!\"\n\n\"Hi-i-i!\" again cried the Turtle. \"I shall dance in the boiling pot,\nand clouds of steam will arise to blind the eyes of the people!\"\n\nThe counsellors looked doubtfully at one another, and at last one said:\n\n\"Why not carry him out to the middle of the lake and drown him?\"\n\nThen the Turtle drew in his head and became silent.\n\n\"Alas!\" he groaned, \"that is the only death I fear!\"\n\nSo the people took him in a canoe, and rowed out to the middle of the\nlake. There they dropped him in, and he sank like a stone!\n\nBut the next minute he came up to the top of the water and again uttered\nhis war-cry.\n\n\"Hi-i-i!\" he cried. \"Now I am at home!\" And he dived and swam wherever\nhe would.\n\nThis story teaches us that _patience and quick wit are better than\nspeed_.\n\n\n\n\nFIFTH EVENING\n\nTHE FALCON AND THE DUCK\n\n\n\n\nFIFTH EVENING\n\n\nThe boaster is a well-known character in every Indian village; and it is\nquite plain from the number of stories warning us against self-praise,\nthat the wise men of the tribe have not been slow to discover and point\nout this weakness of their people.\n\nThe stories told by Smoky Day are seldom without a moral, and we may be\nsure that the children are not sent to him only to be entertained, but\nalso to learn and profit by the stored-up wisdom of the past. Moreover,\nthey are expected afterward to repeat the tales in the family circle,\nand there is much rivalry among the little folks as to who shall tell\nthem best. Teona has a good memory and ready wit, and his versions are\ncommonly received with approval, but it happens that little Tanagela,\nhis cousin, has just won a triumph by her sprightly way of telling the\nfourth evening's tale of the seven warriors. The little maid listens\nto-night with burning cheeks and shining eyes, eager to repeat her\nsuccess with the pretty story of\n\n\nTHE FALCON AND THE DUCK\n\nThe wintry winds had already begun to whistle and the waves to rise when\nthe Drake and his mate gathered their half-grown brood together on the\nshores of their far northern lake.\n\n\"Wife,\" said he, \"it is now time to take the children southward, to the\nWarm Countries which they have never yet seen!\"\n\nVery early the next morning they set out on their long journey, forming\na great V against the sky in their flight. The mother led her flock and\nthe father brought up the rear, keeping a sharp lookout for stragglers.\n\n[Illustration]\n\nAll day they flew high in the keen air, over wide prairies and great\nforests of northern pine, until toward evening they saw below them a\nchain of lakes, glittering like a string of dark-blue stones. Swinging\nround in a half circle, they dropped lower and lower, ready to alight\nand rest upon the smooth surface of the nearest lake.\n\nSuddenly their leader heard a whizz sound like that of a bullet as it\ncuts the air, and she quickly gave the warning: \"Honk! honk! Danger,\ndanger!\" All descended in dizzy spirals, but as the great Falcon swooped\ntoward them with upraised wing, the ducklings scattered wildly hither\nand thither. The old Drake came last, and it was he who was struck!\n\n\"Honk, honk!\" cried all the Ducks in terror, and for a minute the air\nwas full of soft downy feathers like flakes of snow. But the force of\nthe blow was lost upon the well-cushioned body of the Drake, he soon got\nover his fright and went on his way southward with his family, while the\nFalcon dropped heavily to the water's edge with a broken wing.\n\nThere he stayed and hunted mice as best he could from day to day,\nsleeping at night in a hollow log to be out of the way of the Fox and\nthe Weasel. All the wit he had was not too much whereby to keep himself\nalive through the long, hard winter.\n\nToward spring, however, the Falcon's wing had healed and he could fly a\nlittle, though feebly. The sun rose higher and higher in the blue\nheavens, and the Ducks began to return to their cool northern home.\nEvery day a flock or two flew over the lake; but the Falcon dared not\ncharge upon the flocks, much as he wished to do so. He was weak with\nhunger, and afraid to trust to the strength of the broken wing.\n\nOne fine day a chattering flock of Mallards alighted quite near him,\ncooling their glossy breasts upon the gentle rippling wave.\n\n\"Here, children,\" boasted an old Drake, \"is the very spot where your\nfather was charged upon last autumn by a cruel Falcon! I can tell you\nthat it took all my skill and quickness in dodging to save my life. Best\nof all, our fierce enemy dropped to the ground with a broken wing!\nDoubtless he is long since dead of starvation, or else a Fox or a Mink\nhas made a meal of the wicked creature!\"\n\nBy these words the Falcon knew his old enemy, and his courage returned.\n\n\"Nevertheless, I am still here!\" he exclaimed, and darted like a flash\nupon the unsuspecting old Drake, who was resting and telling of his\nexploit and narrow escape with the greatest pride and satisfaction.\n\n\"Honk! honk!\" screamed all the Ducks, and they scattered and whirled\nupward like the dead leaves in autumn; but the Falcon with sure aim\nselected the old Drake and gave swift chase. Round and round in dizzy\nspirals they swung together, till with a quick spurt the Falcon struck\nthe shining, outstretched neck of the other, and snapped it with one\npowerful blow of his reunited wing.\n\n_Do not exult too soon; nor is it wise to tell of your brave deeds\nwithin the hearing of your enemy._\n\n\n\n\nSIXTH EVENING\n\nTHE RACCOON AND THE BEE-TREE\n\n\n\n\nSIXTH EVENING\n\n\n\"Ho, Chatanna,\" says the old story-teller, pleasantly, \"I see that you\nhave brought Mato, the Bear, with you to-night! I hope he will be good\nand not disturb the other scholars.\"\n\n\"Grandfather,\" says Chatanna, earnestly, \"he will be good. He obeys me,\nand is never troublesome like some pets. He will lie quietly here by me\nand listen to the story!\"\n\nAll the children range themselves around the brightly burning fire, the\nlittle boys sitting cross-legged, and the girls sideways, like demure\nlittle women.\n\nAlthough they do not know it yet, there is a special treat in store for\nthem all this evening. The story is one in which feasting plays a part,\nand whenever good things to eat come into a story, it is a pleasant\ncustom of the Sioux to offer some delicacy.\n\nThe good old wife of the teacher has prepared a kettle full of her\nchoicest wild rice, dark in color but of a flavor to be remembered, and\na generous dish of boiled rice sprinkled with maple-sugar is passed to\neach child, (and doubtless shared with Mato by his loving friend,) at\nthe close of the story about\n\n\nTHE RACCOON AND THE BEE-TREE\n\nThe Raccoon had been asleep all day in the snug hollow of a tree. The\ndusk was coming on when he awoke, stretched himself once or twice, and\njumping down from the top of the tall, dead stump in which he made his\nhome, set out to look for his supper.\n\nIn the midst of the woods there was a lake, and all along the lake shore\nthere rang out the alarm cries of the water people as the Raccoon came\nnearer and nearer.\n\nFirst the Swan gave a scream of warning. The Crane repeated the cry, and\nfrom the very middle of the lake the Loon, swimming low, took it up and\nechoed it back over the still water.\n\nThe Raccoon sped merrily on, and finding no unwary bird that he could\nseize he picked up a few mussel-shells from the beach, cracked them\nneatly and ate the sweet meat.\n\nA little further on, as he was leaping hither and thither through the\nlong, tangled meadow grass, he landed with all four feet on a family of\nSkunks--father, mother and twelve little ones, who were curled up sound\nasleep in a soft bed of broken dry grass.\n\n\"Huh!\" exclaimed the father Skunk. \"What do you mean by this, eh?\" And\nhe stood looking at him defiantly.\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\"Oh, excuse me, excuse me,\" begged the Raccoon. \"I am very sorry. I did\nnot mean to do it! I was just running along and I did not see you at\nall.\"\n\n\"Better be careful where you step next time,\" grumbled the Skunk, and\nthe Raccoon was glad to hurry on.\n\nRunning up a tall tree he came upon two red Squirrels in one nest, but\nbefore he could get his paws upon one of them they were scolding angrily\nfrom the topmost bough.\n\n\"Come down, friends!\" called the Raccoon. \"What are you doing up there?\nWhy, I wouldn't harm you for anything!\"\n\n\"Ugh, you can't fool us,\" chattered the Squirrels, and the Raccoon went\non.\n\nDeep in the woods, at last, he found a great hollow tree which attracted\nhim by a peculiar sweet smell. He sniffed and sniffed, and went round\nand round till he saw something trickling down a narrow crevice. He\ntasted it and it was deliciously sweet.\n\nHe ran up the tree and down again, and at last found an opening into\nwhich he could thrust his paw. He brought it out covered with honey!\n\nNow the Raccoon was happy. He ate and scooped, and scooped and ate the\ngolden, trickling honey with both forepaws till his pretty, pointed face\nwas daubed all over.\n\nSuddenly he tried to get a paw into his ear. Something hurt him terribly\njust then, and the next minute his sensitive nose was frightfully stung.\nHe rubbed his face with both sticky paws. The sharp stings came thicker\nand faster, and he wildly clawed the air. At last he forgot to hold on\nto the branch any longer, and with a screech he tumbled to the ground.\n\nThere he rolled and rolled on the dead leaves till he was covered with\nleaves from head to foot, for they stuck to his fine, sticky fur, and\nmost of all they covered his eyes and his striped face. Mad with fright\nand pain he dashed through the forest calling to some one of his own\nkind to come to his aid.\n\n[Illustration: SO THEY RAN AND THEY RAN OUT OF THE WOODS ON TO THE\nSHINING WHITE BEACH.]\n\nThe moon was now bright, and many of the woods people were abroad. A\nsecond Raccoon heard the call and went to meet it. But when he saw a\nfrightful object plastered with dry leaves racing madly toward him he\nturned and ran for his life, for he did not know what this thing might\nbe.\n\nThe Raccoon who had been stealing the honey ran after him as fast as he\ncould, hoping to overtake and beg the other to help him get rid of his\nleaves.\n\nSo they ran and they ran out of the woods on to the shining white beach\naround the lake. Here a Fox met them, but after one look at the queer\nobject which was chasing the frightened Raccoon he too turned and ran at\nhis best speed.\n\nPresently a young Bear came loping out of the wood and sat up on his\nhaunches to see them go by. But when he got a good look at the Raccoon\nwho was plastered with dead leaves, he scrambled up a tree to be out of\nthe way.\n\nBy this time the poor Raccoon was so frantic that he scarcely knew what\nhe was doing. He ran up the tree after the Bear and got hold of his\ntail.\n\n\"Woo, woo!\" snarled the Bear, and the Raccoon let go. He was tired out\nand dreadfully ashamed. He did now what he ought to have done at the\nvery first--he jumped into the lake and washed off most of the leaves.\nThen he got back to his hollow tree and curled himself up and licked and\nlicked his soft fur till he had licked himself clean, and then he went\nto sleep.\n\n_The midnight hunter steals at his own risk._\n\n\n\n\nSEVENTH EVENING\n\nTHE BADGER AND THE BEAR\n\n\n\n\nSEVENTH EVENING\n\n\nThe night is cold and clear, with a full moon overhead, and soon after\nsupper Tanagela appears in her snug doeskin gown and warm robe of the\nsame, tanned with the hair on, drawing her little brother in a great\nturtle-shell over the crusty snow.\n\nOld Smoky Day laughs heartily at the sight, standing just outside his\nteepee door to watch for the coming of the children. Nor is this all,\nfor in the wake of this pair comes another dragging a rude sled made of\na buffalo's ribs, well covered with soft furs, while still another has\nborrowed his mother's large raw-hide for the occasion. After their\nfrolicsome ride through the brightly lighted village, they are all in a\nhappy mood, ready to listen to the interesting story of\n\n\nTHE BADGER AND THE BEAR\n\nThe Badger lived in a little house under the hill and it was warm and\nsnug. Here, too, lived mother Badger and the little Badgers, and they\nwere fat and merry, for the gray old Badger was a famous hunter. Folks\nsaid he must have a magic art in making arrows, since he never failed to\nbring in meat enough and to spare!\n\nOne day, father Badger stayed at home to make new arrows. His wife was\nbusy slicing and drying the meat left over from the hunt of the day\nbefore, while the little ones played at hide-and-go-seek about the\nlodge.\n\nAll at once, a big, clumsy shape darkened the low doorway. The children\nhid their faces in fear, but father Badger got up and welcomed the\nstranger kindly. He was a large black Bear. His shaggy skin hung\nloosely, and his little red eyes turned hungrily on the strips of good\nmeat hung up to dry.\n\n\"Ho! Be seated, friend!\" said the old Badger. He lighted and passed the\nlong pipe, while his wife at once broiled a thick slice of savory\nvenison over the coals and offered it to their guest in a wooden basin.\nThe Bear ate like a starving man, and soon after he had eaten he\nshuffled away.\n\nNext day the Bear came again, and on the day after, and for many days.\nAt each visit he was invited to eat, according to the custom, and\nfeasted well by the Badger, skilful hunter and generous host.\n\nAfter many days the Bear came one morning looking fat and sleek, and he\nhad brought with him his whole family. Growling savagely, he rudely\nturned the Badger family out of their comfortable lodge, well stored\nwith good food and soft robes. Even the magic arrows of father Badger\nwere left behind. Crying bitterly, the homeless Badgers went off into\nthe woods to seek another place of shelter. That night they slept cold\nunder a great rock, and the children went supperless to bed, for the\nBadger could not hunt without his arrows.\n\nAll the next day and for several days after he wandered through the\nforest looking for game, but found none. One night, the children were so\nhungry and cried so hard, that the poor old father at last said:\n\n\"Well, then, I must beg for you!\"\n\nSo he crept back to his old home, where the Bear family now lived and\ngrew fat. Standing in the doorway, he begged quite humbly for a small\npiece of meat.\n\n\"I would not trouble you,\" said he, \"but my little folks are starving!\"\n\n[Illustration]\n\nHowever, the Bear got up and turned him angrily out-of-doors, while the\nill-natured little Bears chuckled and laughed to see how thin and hungry\nhe looked!\n\nAll laughed but one, and that one was the smallest and ugliest of the\ncubs, who had always been teased and abused by the others. He was sorry\nfor the poor Badger, and when no one was looking he slyly stole a piece\nof his mother's meat and threw it into their hut, and then ran home\nagain.\n\nThis happened several times, and now the family of Badgers were only\nkept from starving by the gifts of the kind-hearted little Bear.\n\nAt last came the Avenger, who sprang from a drop of innocent blood. He\nis very tall, strong and beautiful, and is feared by all wrong-doers.\nThe Bear saw him coming and began to tremble. He at once called to the\nBadger, who was not far off, and invited him to come and eat.\n\nBut the Avenger came first! Then the Bear called upon his wife and\nchildren to follow him, and took to his heels. He ran as fast as he\ncould, looking over his shoulder from time to time, for he was really\nterribly frightened. He never came back any more, and the Badger family\nreturned and joyfully possessed their old home.\n\n_There is no meanness like ingratitude._\n\n\n\n\nEIGHTH EVENING\n\nTHE GOOD-LUCK TOKEN\n\n\n\n\nEIGHTH EVENING\n\n\n\"Ah, Teona, I saw you out to-day with your new bow and arrows! I hope\nyou have not been hasty to display your skill with the new weapons to\nthe injury of any harmless creature,\" says old Smoky Day, gravely, as\nthe boy hunter arrives quite out of breath.\n\n\"You have been told,\" he adds, \"that the animals long ago agreed to\nsacrifice their lives for ours, when we are in need of food or of skins\nfor garments, but that we are forbidden to kill for sport alone.\"\n\n\"Why, grandfather,\" the boy admits, \"I followed a gray squirrel from\ntree to tree, and shot at him more than once, but he always dodged the\narrow in time!\"\n\n\"And were you then hungry? did you have any use for the little fellow if\nyou had killed him?\" the old man persists. \"There was once a squirrel\nwho made a treaty of peace with a little boy like you. I will tell you\nhis story to-night.\"\n\n\nTHE GOOD-LUCK TOKEN\n\nThere was once an old couple who lived quite alone with their little\ngrandson in the midst of a great wood.\n\nThey were wretchedly poor, for the old man was now growing too weak to\nhunt, and often came home at night empty-handed. The old woman dug roots\nand gathered berries for food; but alas! her eyesight was no longer\ngood, and there were sometimes whole days when there was nothing in the\nlodge to eat.\n\nOne day the boy became very hungry, and he said to his grandfather:\n\n\"Grandfather, only make me a bow and some arrows, and I will hunt for us\nall!\"\n\nThe first time he went out into the forest with his bow and arrows he\nmet with a Chickadee, who said to him:\n\n\"Shoot me! I am willing to give my life to satisfy your hunger.\"\n\nThe boy shot and took home the tiny bird, and when he threw it down\nbefore his grandmother it was no longer a Chickadee, but a fine, fat\nPartridge, and the poor old folks were overcome with joy.\n\n\"Ah, ah, my grandson!\" they cried. \"You are indeed a hunter!\"\n\nThe next day, when he went out to hunt, the boy walked a long way\nwithout seeing any game. At last he thought he heard somebody laughing\nin the depths of the forest.\n\nThe laughter sounded nearer and nearer as he walked on. By and by he was\nsure he heard some person talking to himself, and in the end he could\nactually make out the words, although he saw no one.\n\n\"Ha, ha,\" chirrupped the gay voice, \"I am surely the luckiest creature\nalive! I leap and flit all day long from bough to bough. I am quick as a\nflash, so that I can easily escape my enemies. In my free and happy life\nthere is but one thing I fear, and that is a boy's blunt-headed arrow!\"\n\nWhen the boy heard this, he advanced boldly, and his quick eyes made out\na snug wigwam in the hollow of a great tree. He peeped in, and saw that\nthe house was warm and well stored with nuts of all kinds. Its little\nowner sat flirting his bushy tail in the corner, upon a bed of dry\nleaves; but as soon as he spied the boy, he ran past him with a scream\nof fright and scampered off among the thick woods.\n\nThe boy followed as fast as he could, and after a long chase he tired\nout and overtook the Squirrel, who sat coughing and grunting upon the\nbough of a tree just above his head.\n\n\"Boy,\" he exclaimed, \"only spare my life, and you shall have a charm\nthat will make you a successful hunter as long as you live!\"\n\nThe boy agreed, and the Squirrel took him back to his own wigwam, where\nhe filled the little fellow's bag with nuts from his pile.\n\n\"These,\" said he, \"are all lucky nuts, and if you put one of them in\nyour pouch when you go out to hunt, you will surely kill a Bear!\"\n\nThis the boy did, and to the great joy of the poor old folks he became a\nfamous hunter, so that from that time on they never wanted meat in\ntheir lodge.\n\nDo not harm your weaker brothers, for even a little Squirrel may be the\nbearer of good fortune!\n\n\n\n\nNINTH EVENING\n\nUNKTOMEE AND HIS BUNDLE OF SONGS\n\n\n\n\nNINTH EVENING\n\n\n\"Now, my grandchildren,\" says Smoky Day, \"I shall tell you of one who is\nwell known in the wonder-world of our people. He is a great traveller,\nseems to know everybody, and is always good-natured, but he is also a\nshameless boaster and plays many tricks upon those he meets on the road.\nNo one is so wise and cunning as Unktomee, the Spider; and yet he likes\nto appear as simple and innocent as a child!\n\n\"His adventures are many. Sometimes he gets the better of the animal\npeople, and again they may succeed in outwitting him, so that he is well\nlaughed at for his trouble! We may all learn from these stories of\nUnktomee and his sly tricks how to be on our guard against those\ndeceitful ones who come to us in the guise of friends.\"\n\n\nUNKTOMEE AND HIS BUNDLE OF SONGS\n\nIt was a bright, sunshiny day, and the flocks of Ducks flying northward\nhad all stopped to rest beside a little lake, and were splashing and\npaddling about in the cool water. They were happy and very noisy, but\nsuddenly they ceased their cries and calls and became quite silent, for\na queer figure was seen coming toward them along the curve of the beach.\nIt was the figure of a strange little old man, bent nearly double under\na huge load of something that looked like dry grass.\n\n\"Quack, quack!\" said one of the boldest of the Ducks, as the old man\ndrew near with his burden. \"What have you there?\"\n\n\"Oh, that is only a bundle of old songs,\" replied Unktomee with a smile;\nfor it was that sly one, that maker of mischief!\n\n[Illustration]\n\nThereupon the Ducks took courage, and quacked and fluttered all about\nhim, crying:\n\n\"Sing us an old song, Unktomee!\"\n\nWillingly Unktomee threw down his load upon the lake shore, and with the\nutmost good nature began to build a little teepee of sticks, thatching\nit with the dry grass. In a few minutes it was done, and he kindly\ninvited the ducks to enter.\n\nWith rustling wings and shining feathers they crowded into the little\nteepee until it could hold no more.\n\nUnktomee was there, too. He stayed by the door, and began to sing:\n\n    \"Ishtogmus wachee po!\n     Tuwa etowan kin\n     Ishtah ne sha kta!\n\n  (Dance with your eyes shut!\n  Whoever looks shall have red eyes!)\"\n\nEvery one of the foolish Ducks shut his eyes tight, and Unktomee, as he\nsang, quietly seized one after another by the neck as they danced in a\nring around the teepee, wrung their necks quickly and cast them behind\nthem. Not one had a chance to squawk, so cleverly was the work done,\nand there would soon have been none to listen to the old songs!\n\nBut after a little a small Duck slyly opened his eyes, and saw Unktomee\nwringing the necks of his friends.\n\n\"Fly! Fly!\" he exclaimed in terror. \"He is killing us all!\"\n\nSo all the Ducks that were left alive rose up with a mighty rush of\nwings and a loud clamor of voices. The grass teepee fell to pieces, and\nthe lucky ones flew away; but lying on the ground beside Unktomee were\nenough fat Ducks for a fine feast!\n\nAnd the little Duck that peeped forever after had red eyes!\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nThe children liked this story very much, but it was shorter than usual.\n\n\"Tell us about the feast!\" they cried. \"Tell us about the feast of\nUnktomee!\" So old Smoky Day began again:\n\nNow Unktomee wished to make a feast. The first thing he did was to stand\nand cry aloud:\n\n\"Chagah aoo po-o-o! (Somebody bring me a kettle!)\"\n\nHe called and called for a long time. At last somebody appeared with the\nkettle. It was the Fox, who was carrying it in his mouth. Unktomee\nthanked him carelessly, and after waiting awhile, the Fox went sadly\naway again.\n\nThen Unktomee dressed the Ducks whose necks he had wrung, built a fire,\nfetched water and put them on to boil. But he was tired as well as\nhungry, and while his dinner was cooking, he thought he might as well\ntake a nap. So he lay down in the warm sand near by, first telling his\nFace to be on the watch and to twitch if any one came, so as to awaken\nhim.\n\nWhile Unktomee slept, the Fox returned with a friend. Unktomee's Face\ndid not twitch as it had been told to do, for the Foxes stroked it very\ngently, and told it to be quiet. Having done this, they quietly ate\nevery bit of the rich meat, and put the bones back into the pot.\n\nWhen at last Unktomee yawned and awoke, he was very hungry indeed. He\nlooked to see whether his dinner was ready, and found nothing in the\nkettle except bones!\n\n\"Ah! the Ducks have boiled too long,\" he said to himself. \"The meat will\nall be in the bottom of the pot.\"\n\nWhen he discovered that the bones had been picked clean, he was very\nangry, and scolded his Face severely for not awakening him in time.\n\n_He who deceives others may himself be caught some day._\n\n\n\n\nTENTH EVENING\n\nUNKTOMEE AND THE ELK\n\n\n[Illustration: TANAGELA AND HER LITTLE BROTHER.]\n\n\n\n\nTENTH EVENING\n\n\n\"Tell us another story of Unktomee, grandfather!\" cry several of the\nchildren, as soon as they are inside the old story-teller's wigwam on\nthe tenth evening.\n\n\"Ah, I thought you would ask for another!\" remarks the old man with\nquiet satisfaction. \"There are many stories of his dealings with the\nanimal people. He loves to go among them and even to take their shape,\nthat he may make fools of them the more easily. This may do very well\nfor a time, but it is generally not long before he is ready to cry\n'Enough!'\"\n\n\nUNKTOMEE AND THE ELK\n\nIt was midsummer, and the Elk people were feasting in great numbers upon\nthe slopes of the mountain. Sleek, fat and handsome, they browsed hither\nand thither off the juicy saplings and rich grass, drank their fill from\nthe clear mountain streams, and lay down to rest at their ease in the\ngreen shade through the heat of the day.\n\nUnktomee, who had been travelling far and was hungry and foot-sore,\nlooked upon them with envy.\n\n\"Ah,\" said he to himself, \"that is the life for me! Surely these are the\nhappiest people on earth, for they have all things in abundance and are\nso fleet of foot that they need fear no danger!\"\n\nAccordingly, he hid his bow and quiver full of arrows in a hollow tree,\nwith all of his clothing and other weapons, so that he might appear\nquite naked and harmless before the timid Elk people. They saw that he\nwas unarmed, and they stood still as he approached.\n\n\"Here comes Unktomee,\" said they doubtfully to one another.\n\n\"Ah, brothers!\" he pleaded with them, \"you have enough; you are at peace\nwith the tribes; you overlook the valley and all its dwellers are below\nyou! None is so happy as you. Will you not make me one of you?\"\n\n\"Friend!\" exclaimed their leader, \"you do not know what you ask! To be\nsure, it is now midsummer; our clothing and our weapons are new, there\nis food in plenty, and we may seem to be happy. However, our antlers,\nour only weapons, are yet soft, and the Wolf and the Wild Cat are ready\nand fearless to attack us. Our only hope of escape is in our fleetness,\nsince we are watched all day by the cruel eyes of those who live upon\nflesh, of whom the most dangerous of all is Man!\"\n\n\"I know all this,\" replied Unktomee. \"Others may have stronger weapons\nthan you, but I see none with your beauty, your stately height, your\nfreedom and ease of life. I beg of you to allow me to share it!\"\n\n\"If you can pass the test, we will admit you,\" they said at last.\n\"Notice our eyes--we must be ever watchful; our ears--they are\nconstantly on guard! Can you smell an enemy even against the wind? Can\nyou detect his footfall before he is near?\"\n\nUnktomee passed the test and was finally admitted to the company of the\nElks; in fact, he was made the chief of them all, for such he wanted to\nbe.\n\n\"Now,\" said they, \"we have made you our leader. You must guide us so\nthat we shall be safe from the hunters!\"\n\nProud of his long limbs and of his stately antlers, he led them all down\nthe hill, running back now and then to urge the hindermost ones into\nline. When they stopped to rest, he lay down a little apart from the\nothers, under a spreading oak.\n\nSuddenly they all sprang up and fled, for Unktomee had cried out to\nthem:\n\n\"Fly! fly! I am struck by an arrow!\"\n\nBut when no hunter appeared, they were provoked, and grumbled among\nthemselves:\n\n\"Unktomee is deceiving us; it was only a stick that fell from the tree!\"\n\nThen they all lay down a second time, and a second time the Elks were\naroused in vain. They were still more displeased, and said to one\nanother:\n\n\"It was only an acorn that fell upon him while he slept!\"\n\nA third time they lay down, but this time the Elks stole away from\nUnktomee and left him sleeping, for they had scented the hunter. When\nthe hunter came, therefore, he found only the chief Elk still sleeping,\nand he let fly an arrow and wounded him severely.\n\nUnktomee was now in great fear and pain, and he bitterly regretted that\nhe had become an Elk, for he had learned that their life is full of\nanxiety. The Elks had taught him that it is well to be content with our\nown, for there is no life that is free from hardship and danger.\n\n\n\n\nELEVENTH EVENING\n\nTHE FESTIVAL OF THE LITTLE PEOPLE\n\n\n\n\nELEVENTH EVENING\n\n\n\"You are late to-night, my grandchildren,\" grumbles the good old wife of\nSmoky Day, as she stands in front of her low doorway, peering under the\nfolds of her dark blanket at the little toiling figures slowly coming\nnearer, and the many twinkling lights across the snow.\n\n\"My mother gave a feast to-day,\" murmurs Tanagela, in her soft voice.\n\"There were so many people for us to serve--I could not come any sooner!\nBut see, grandmother! I have brought you some boiled rice and venison,\"\nshe ends, proudly bringing out the heavy kettle from under her skin robe\nas they enter the well-smoked lodge.\n\n\"Ah, ah!\" exclaims the story-teller, whose old eyes brighten at the\nsight of the good food. \"We are to feast to-night, it seems; therefore I\nshall tell you of a feast and what came after.\"\n\n\nTHE FESTIVAL OF THE LITTLE PEOPLE\n\nThe big voice of the Bumble-Bee was heard in every nook and corner of\nthe wood, and from end to end of the deep valley, for Unktomee, the\ngenerous, was giving a feast, and the Bee was his herald, the crier of\nthe day.\n\n\"Ho, every creeper, every buzzer, all ye little people who fly without\nfeathers, come this day to the festival!\" boomed the Bee. \"All must\nprepare to exhibit their best skill; the Toad, who can neither fly nor\nrun, his brother the Bullfrog, with his band of musicians, and even the\nFlying-squirrel with the rest. Tanagela, the Humming-bird, will be the\njudge of beauty, and the Bat will judge your skilful performance in the\nair. That wise medicine-man, the Serpent, will also be there!\"\n\nSo Unktomee's herald made the cedar-fringed gulches and pine-scented\nhilltops fairly hum with his call.\n\nIt was in July, the Moon of Black Cherries, and the Little People\ngathered in great numbers at the place of the Singing Waterfall, which\nhad been chosen for the meeting-place. The happy valley buzzed with\ntheir million voices.\n\nThen Unktomee, the prudent, saw fit to appoint certain warriors to keep\norder at the festival. For many were present, therefore mishap or\ninjustice might be.\n\nThe Wolf was ordered to watch upon the surrounding hills, so that no\nenemy should come near; and the Owl was appointed to keep order within\nthe camp, and especially to see that neither the Bat, the Night-hawk\nnor the Swallow tribe were permitted to disturb the little insect\npeople.\n\nThe day opened well, with a chorus of praise from the great orchestra--a\nsunrise song, opened by Ta-she-ya-ka, the Meadow-lark, in which even the\ncrickets joined, with their slender instruments.\n\nThen came the contest of beauty, in which the Butterflies, in their\ngauzy dresses of every color, won the first prize. The Bat, however, who\nwas to judge of feats on the wing, had slyly made a meal of some of the\nlesser contestants. The Owl swooped down upon him to punish him, and\nthere was great confusion.\n\nUnktomee could do nothing with his guests. The Toad began to devour the\nsmaller creepers, the Snake attacked the Toad, and even the Wolf came\ndown from his station on the hills to make a raid upon the helpless\nLittle People. Thus began the warfare and preying among these feeble\ntribes that has lasted to this day.\n\n_It is not wise to put the strong in authority over the weak._\n\n\n\n\nTWELFTH EVENING\n\nEYA THE DEVOURER\n\n\n\n\nTWELFTH EVENING\n\n\n\"We shall hear to-night of one good deed done by Unktomee,\" begins the\nold teacher, when all are in their places. \"In the old days, longer ago\nthan any one can remember, no one was more feared and dreaded than Eya,\nthe Glutton, the devouring spirit that went to and fro upon the earth,\nable to draw all living creatures into his hideous, open mouth! His form\nwas monstrous and terrifying. No one seemed to know what he feared, or\nhow he might be overcome. Whole tribes of people were swallowed up by\nhim, and there was no help!\n\n\"At last came Unktomee, and by his quick wit and genial ways got the\nbetter of this enemy of our race. He is very hard to kill, for he often\ncomes to life again after he has been left for dead. Perhaps by Eya is\nmeant the terrible hunger, or the sickness that runs like fire from\nlodge to lodge and sweeps away whole villages.\"\n\n\nEYA THE DEVOURER\n\nOnce upon a time, an old woman who was gathering wood found a lost babe\ndeep in the forest, and bringing him to the camp, gave him to the\nchief's pretty daughter. The girl, who was very tender-hearted, took the\nchild and cared for him as her own.\n\nShe fed him often, but he was never satisfied and continually cried for\nmore. When he screamed, his mouth stretched from ear to ear, and far\ndown his red throat she seemed to see a great company of people\nstruggling in confusion. However, she told no one, but patiently tended\nthe strange child and carried him about with her everywhere.\n\nAt dead of night, when all in the lodge were asleep, the tender-hearted\nmaiden was aroused by the crying of her babe. As she bent over him,\nthere seemed to come from his wide-open mouth, as if from the depths of\nthe earth, the far-off voices of many people in distress.\n\nThen at last she went and awoke the chief, her father, and said to him:\n\n\"Father, come and listen to the voice of my babe!\"\n\nHe listened for a moment and exclaimed in horror:\n\n\"My child, this is Eya, he who devours all things, even whole villages!\nThis that we hear is the crying of the people whom he has swallowed. Now\nhe has taken the form of an innocent babe and is come to destroy us!\n\n\"We must steal away quietly while he sleeps, and travel fast and far\nbefore morning.\"\n\nIn whispers they aroused the sleeping people, and all broke camp without\ndisturbing the child, who once more slept in the chief's teepee, which\nthey left still standing.\n\nAll night they travelled at their best pace, and when morning came, they\nhad come to a wide and deep river. Here Unktomee, the crafty one, came\nto meet them, smiling and rubbing his hands.\n\nWhen he had learned what caused the people of a whole village to flee in\nthe night, he kindly offered to help them against their powerful enemy.\nTerrified though they were, they were even then unwilling, for they\nfeared lest he might play some trick upon them; but Unktomee persisted,\nand went back upon their trail to meet the Devourer.\n\nHe had not gone far before he saw Eya hastening after the fleeing ones,\nhis ugly mouth gaping widely and his great, unwieldy body supported by a\npair of feeble legs that tottered under its weight.\n\n\"Where are you going, younger brother?\" asked Unktomee, pleasantly.\n\n\"How dare you call me younger brother?\" angrily returned the other. \"Do\nyou not know that I was the first one created upon the solid earth?\"\n\n\"If that is so, I must be older than you,\" replied Unktomee, in his\ngood-natured way, \"for I was created upon the face of the water, before\nthe dry land itself! I know whom you seek, younger brother, and am come\nout to help you.\n\n\"Those foolish ones whom you are following are encamped on the river\nclose at hand, and I will lead you to them presently. They cannot escape\nyou. Why not rest a little now, and refresh yourself with the delicacy\nthat I have prepared for you? See, these are human ears, nicely dried\nfor your meal!\"\n\nSo saying, Unktomee pointed to a great heap of mussel shells that lay\nupon the hill-top. The greedy monster was deceived, and hastily\nswallowed the shells, which caused him such distress that he was\nhelpless, and was easily dispatched by the men of the village, who now\ncame out to kill him. No sooner had they cut open his enormous body with\ntheir knives, than a large company of people issued forth upon the\nplain, and began dancing and singing songs of praise for their\ndeliverance.\n\n\n\n\nTHIRTEENTH EVENING\n\nTHE WARS OF WA-KEE-YAN AND UNK-TAY-HEE\n\n\n\n\nTHIRTEENTH EVENING\n\n\n\"Were you not frightened last night, grandfather?\" exclaims Waola, the\nboldest of the boys, before the little circle has fairly settled into\nquiet. \"Thunder in the Moon of Sore Eyes is not heard so often! My\nlittle sister cried bitterly, and Uncle says that it is an omen of\nmisfortune.\"\n\n\"So it would have seemed to me once, my grandson,\" replies the old sage,\nwith his pleasant smile. \"But I am an old man, and I have heard the\nThunder-Bird speak even more loudly, both in season and out of season,\nyet no evil came of it to our people. Truly I think that the Great\nMystery has set bounds to the terrors of these his warriors, so that we\nneed not tremble before them as in the old days, when their laws were\nnot fully known.\n\n\"There is a very old story concerning these matters, which I will tell\nyou to-night.\"\n\n\nTHE WARS OF WA-KEE-YAN AND UNK-TAY-HEE\n\nWa-kee-yan is the Great Bird of storm and tempest, who was appointed in\nthe beginning of things to keep the earth and also the upper air pure\nand clean. Although there is sometimes death and destruction in his\npath, yet he is a servant of the Great Mystery and his work is good.\n\nYet he rules only one half the year. The other half is ruled by\nWa-zee-yah, the Spirit of Cold, and he too purifies the air and the\nwater.\n\nWhen Wa-zee-yah, the North Wind, the Cold-Maker, comes, the animals put\non thicker robes and some even change their color to be like the white\nblanket that he lays over the earth. Then the waters are imprisoned for\na season, and all things sleep and rest.\n\nThen comes He-yo-kah, the South-Wind, also called the Fool-Wind, he who\nis the herald of the Thunder-Bird and causes all the trees and the\nplains to put on their garments of green.\n\nFor ages there had been war between the Thunder-Bird, the ruler of the\nupper air, and the Water Monster, or Unk-tay-hee, the ruler of the deep.\nWhenever a black cloud appeared in the sky and cast its threatening\nshadow upon the water, all the fishes knew it for a warning to descend\nto the floor of their watery abode, the deep, dark realm, away from the\npower of his arrows.\n\nEven the sea birds must seek their sheltered coves and hiding-places,\npull tight their downy blankets and be still, for now Wa-kee-yan would\nsweep sea and air with his mighty wing, and punish the disobedient.\n\nAll was quiet before his approach. His breath was the tempest, the roll\nof the thunder his drum-beat, the lightning's flash his tomahawk. At his\napproach, the face of the deep was thrown into a mighty commotion.\nColumn after column of white warriors advanced boldly upon the land, and\nbroke upon the rocky shores with a loud war-whoop. Such was the combat\nof the Spirits of Air and Water, at which all living creatures hid\nthemselves and trembled.\n\nAt last the great peace-maker, the Sun, appeared, holding in his hand\nthe Rainbow, like a flag of many colors, a sign that the battle is over.\nHe sent each of the warriors to his own place. Gentle airs came down\nfrom above to meet and play with the little waves that danced upon the\nblue water. He who is our Father, the father of our bodies, whose wife\nis our Mother the Earth, wishes safety and peace for all his children,\ntherefore he still watches the unruly ones from the middle of the sky,\nand their battles are quickly ended.\n\n\n\n\nFOURTEENTH EVENING\n\nTHE LITTLE BOY MAN\n\n\n\n\nFOURTEENTH EVENING\n\n\n\"I shall now tell you of the First Man, and how he came upon earth as an\ninfant, yet without father or mother. Listen well, my children, for you\nshould never forget this story.\"\n\n\nTHE LITTLE BOY MAN\n\nAt the beginning of things, He-who-was-first-Created found himself\nliving alone. The earth was here before him, clothed in green grass and\nthick forests, and peopled with the animal tribes. Then all these spoke\none language, and the Lonely One was heralded by them everywhere as he\nroamed to and fro over the world, both upon dry land and in the depths\nof the sea.\n\nOne day, when he returned to his teepee from a long wandering, he felt a\npain in his left foot, and lo! a splinter in the great toe! Drawing out\nthe splinter, he tossed it upward through the smoke-hole of the lodge.\nHe could hear it roll and rattle down over the birch-bark covering, and\nin the instant that it touched the ground, there arose the cry of a\nnew-born child!\n\nHe-who-was-first-Created at once came forth and took up the infant, who\nwas the Boy Man, the father of the human race here upon earth.\n\nNow the little Boy Man grew and flourished, and was perfectly happy\nunder the wise guidance of his friend and Elder Brother. Although he had\nneither father nor mother, and only animals for playmates, it is said\nthat no child born of human parents has ever led so free and happy a\nlife as he. In those days, there was peace between the animals and the\nBoy Man. Sometimes they challenged him to friendly contests, whereupon\nHe-who-was-first-Created taught his little brother how to outwit them by\nclever tricks and devices. This he was often able to do; but not always;\nfor sometimes the animals by their greater strength finally overcame\nhim.\n\nOne morning the Boy Man went out from his lodge as usual to the day's\noccupations, but did not return at night nor for many nights afterward.\nHe-who-was-first-Created mourned and wailed long for the lost one. At\nlast he became angry, and set out to look for the bones of his brother.\n\nHe travelled from east to west across the world, but found no trace of\nthe one he sought, and all of the land creatures whom he questioned\ndeclared that they had not seen him pass by.\n\nNext he followed the rivers, and the shores of the Great Lakes, and\nthere one day he heard an old woman singing as she cut down a tree at\nthe edge of the water. The traveller came closer to hear the words of\nthe song; and lo! it was a song of the scalp-dance, and in it she spoke\nthe name of the lost Boy Man.\n\nHe-who-was-first-Created now turned himself into a King-fisher, and so\napproached unsuspected and talked with the old Beaver-woman. From her he\nlearned that his younger brother had been enticed into the Great Water\nand destroyed by the monster of the deep, Unk-tay-hee. Thereupon he went\ndown to the shore and changed himself into a tall pine overlooking the\nlake.\n\nFor many moons He-who-was-first-Created remained thus, until at last he\nbeheld two huge forms rising up in the midst of the waves. The monsters\nglided gradually toward the shore and lay basking in the sun at his\nfeet, rocking gently with the motion of the quiet water. It was old\nUnk-tay-hee and his mate.\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\"Husband!\" exclaimed the wife of Unk-tay-hee, \"for ages this has been\nour resting-place, and yet I have never seen this tree before!\"\n\n\"Woman, the tree has always been there!\" returned the water monster.\n\n\"But I am sure it was not here before,\" she insisted.\n\nThen Unk-tay-hee wound his immense scaly tail about the giant pine and\ntried to pull it out by the roots. The water foamed and boiled with his\nstruggles, but He-who-was-first-Created stood firm, and at last the\nmonster gave up the attempt.\n\n\"There,\" he declared, \"I told you it had always been there!\" His wife\nappeared satisfied, and presently the gentle waves rocked them both to\nsleep.\n\nThen He-who-was-first-Created returned to his own shape, and with his\nlong spear he stabbed each of the monsters, so that with groans of pain\nthey dove down to their homes at the bottom of the great lake, and the\nwaters boiled above them, and the foam was red with their blood.\n\n\n\n\nFIFTEENTH EVENING\n\nTHE RETURN OF THE LITTLE BOY MAN\n\n\n\n\nFIFTEENTH EVENING\n\n\nGrandfather has scarcely taken up his long pipe to-night before the\nchildren begin to gather, impatient for the end of the story. Chatanna\nhas been begging his father to tell him whether the Little Boy Man was\never found, but he has been obliged to wait for the old man to go on\nwith his tale.\n\n\nTHE RETURN OF THE LITTLE BOY MAN\n\nHe-who-was-first-Created now took the form of a swallow, and flew down\nfrom the high cliffs, skimming over the surface of the water. Within a\nsheltered cove among the pines, the water-birds were holding a least.\nSome were singing, some dancing, and that great medicine-man, the Loon,\nwas among them, blowing his sacred whistle.\n\nThe Lonely One in the form of a swallow dipped down to the water's edge\nand addressed the Loon respectfully, asking for some of the secrets of\nhis medicine. The Loon was very kind. He taught him several mystery\nsongs, and showed him how to treat the sick.\n\n\"Now,\" said the Swallow, \"if you will permit me to take your form for a\nshort time, I will go down into the deep and try to cure Unk-tay-hee and\nhis wife of their dreadful wounds!\"\n\nThe Loon made no objection, so the new-made conjurer balanced himself\nupon the crest of a wave and gave his loudest call before he dove down,\ndown into the blue water! There in the watery world the people saw him\nas it were sailing down from the sky. His path led now through a great\nforest of sea weeds, now upon the broad plains, and finally he came into\na deep valley of the under-world, where he found everybody anxiously\nwaiting for him. He was met by the old Turtle, who begged him to make\nhaste, for the chief and his wife were in great agony.\n\n\"Let all the people retire, for I must be alone in order to work a\ncure,\" declared the supposed medicine-man, as he entered the teepee of\nthe water monster.\n\nAll went away unwillingly--the Turtle last of all. He told the others\nthat he had heard the great conjurer whisper as his hand touched the\ndoor-flap; \"Ah, my poor brother!\" Now this door-flap was made from the\nskin of the little Boy Man.\n\nHe-who-was-first-Created, when he was inside the lodge, paid no\nattention to the dreadful groans of the monsters, but at once took down\nthe skin of his brother, and as he did so, he saw the little Water-snake\nspying at him from behind the doorway. The others, who were suspicious,\nhad sent him as a scout to see what the medicine-man was doing.\n\nHe called the Snake inside, and compelled him to tell where he should\nfind the bones of his brother. Then for a reward he painted the Snake\ngreen, and declared that as he had served both sides, he should crawl\nupon his belly forever after.\n\nHe-who-was-first-Created gathered up all the bones and took them with\nhim to dry land. There he immediately built a fire and heated stones for\nthe first sweat lodge. He also picked a bunch of sage-brush, and fetched\nwater in a large shell.\n\nHaving carefully wrapped the bones with the dry skin of his brother and\nbuilt over them a low shelter of willow withes, he covered the lodge\ntightly with green boughs and then thrust in his right arm and began to\nsprinkle water with the bunch of sage upon the heated stones.\n\nThe steam arose and filled the lodge, and with the steam there came a\nfaint sighing sound.\n\nA second time he sprinkled water, and there were rustlings within as if\nthe dry bones were gathering themselves together.\n\nWhen he put in his hand for the third time he could hear a sound like\nfar-off singing. Immediately after the Little Boy Man spoke in his own\nvoice, begging to be let out of the lodge.\n\n\n\n\nSIXTEENTH EVENING\n\nTHE FIRST BATTLE\n\n\n\n\nSIXTEENTH EVENING\n\n\n\"This is a very long story that I am telling you,\" declares Smoky Day,\n\"and many evenings will not see the end of it. There are some adventures\nof the Little Boy Man that must wait for another winter. To-night I will\ntell you how it happened that the old friendship was broken between man\nand the animal people.\"\n\n\nTHE FIRST BATTLE\n\nNow after some time it came about that the animals became jealous of the\ngreater wit of the Boy Man, and as they feared that he would somehow\ngain the mastery over them, they began secretly to plot against him.\n\nAt about the same time the Boy Man began to question his Elder Brother,\nand to ask him:\n\n\"Brother, why have all these people weapons, such as spears upon their\nheads and daggers in their mouths, while I am unarmed and naked?\"\n\nThen He-who-was-first-Created replied sadly:\n\n\"My younger brother, the time is now come to give you weapons and I am\nsorry for it. Now at last there is war in the hearts of the animals and\nof man; but they are many and you are only one, therefore I shall help\nyou!\"\n\nThen he gave him a strong bow and arrows with flint heads, also a spear\nwith head of stone, and showed him how to use them.\n\nAfterward he tossed a pebble into the air, and it came down as a wall of\nrock, enclosing their dwelling. He tossed up another and another,\nuntil they were defended by high cliffs on every side. Upon the flat\ntops of the cliffs he spread out the new weapons, whose stone heads were\ndestined to be scattered far and wide when the battle should be over, to\nbe sought out and preserved by men as relics of the beginning of\nwarfare.\n\nThe first battle was announced by a single Buffalo-bull, running at top\nspeed over the prairie. This messenger assigned to each his part in the\nattack. The Beaver was ordered to dam the streams, and the Badger to dig\ntrenches under the defences of the Boy Man, so that they might flood his\ndwelling.\n\nThe Rabbits, Squirrels and other feeble folk were to gather food for the\nwarriors, of whom the principal ones were the Bear, Wolf, Wildcat and\nBison. The Swallow served as messenger to the birds, and the swift Trout\ncarried the news to the finny tribes, for all were to join in this\nwar.\n\nWith the gray dawn came the Wolf's long howl, the first war-whoop,\nbreaking the silence and peace of the world.\n\nWhen the sun rose, dancing for an instant upon the sharp edge of the\nsky, one after another all of the animals joined in the great war-cry,\nwith bellowings and screechings of the larger beasts, the barking of\nWolves, the hissing of Snakes, and the shrill cries of the feathered\nones, of whom the Crane and the Loon were loudest.\n\nThe Boy Man stood erect on the top of the wall, and saw the warriors\ncoming from all directions, as far as the eye could reach. On they came,\nwith a mighty thunder of hoofs and a trampling of many feet! Overhead\nthat great war-chief of the air, the Eagle, commanded his winged forces,\nwhile from below the creepers and crawlers began to scale the lofty\ndefences of the Boy Man. There he stood alone, and fearlessly let fly\nhundreds of sharp arrows, of which every one found its mark, until the\nground was choked with the fallen.\n\nPresently there descended upon him great hosts of the smaller winged\npeople, who also had been provided with sharp and poisonous weapons.\nAgainst these his Elder Brother had forgotten to warn him; but now he\nwas told in haste to strike two flints together and to catch the spark\nthat should come in the dry fallen leaves. Soon a great cloud of smoke\nand flames arose toward heaven, not only driving off the little winged\nwarriors, but forcing the whole body of the enemy to retreat in\nconfusion, for they had never seen fire before, and to this day it is\nfeared by all and used by man only.\n\nThus the animals were convinced that Man is their master. When they sued\nfor peace, all agreed to give him of their flesh for food and their\nskins for clothing, while he on his side promised never to kill any\nwantonly. The Boy Man further agreed that they might keep their weapons\nto use in their own defence. This was the first treaty made upon earth.\n\n\n\n\nSEVENTEENTH EVENING\n\nTHE BELOVED OF THE SUN\n\n\n\n\nSEVENTEENTH EVENING\n\n\n\"Grandfather, is not the night beautiful after the long storm?\" whispers\nTanagela shyly. \"The moon always seems to me like a beautiful woman, for\nshe often hides her round, shining face with a blanket of cloud, and\nsometimes she even runs away from us altogether, as if she were tired or\ndispleased. But to-night she smiles and uncovers her face, so that all\nthe young men are out, each playing upon his flute near the home of the\nloved one!\"\n\nThe little maid does not often make so long a speech, and she too hides\nher face as she comes to the end. But Grandfather smiles indulgently\nupon his favorite, as he answers:\n\n\"And did you not know, then, that she is a woman, my granddaughter?\nTruly it is time that I told you of these things!\"\n\n\nTHE BELOVED OF THE SUN\n\nThere was once a man and his wife and two children who had gone away\nfrom the rest of the tribe and were living by themselves. One day the\nman went out hunting as usual, but evening came and he did not return.\nThe next day his wife went to look for him, and neither did she come\nback to the lodge.\n\nThus it came about that the young brother and sister were left alone,\nbut they were not unhappy. The boy was a strong and well-grown lad, and\nhe brought home abundance of meat, while the girl cooked his food,\ntanned the skins and made all of their moccasins and clothing.\n\nThey had been living thus for many moons, when very early one morning,\nsoon after her brother had left her for the hunt, the girl's eyes were\ndazzled by a sudden flash of light, and at the same instant a tall and\nbeautiful young man entered the lodge. She thought at first that her\nbrother had come back, so great was the likeness; but he did not act\nlike him, for his manner was that of a suitor. He remained for some\ntime, but left before the brother returned.\n\nNow the young man saw at once that his sister seemed to be troubled and\nembarrassed about something. He questioned her, and she hung her head in\nsilence. Three times this happened, and on the third day she told him\nall.\n\n\"To-morrow,\" said he, \"I will set out as usual early in the morning, but\nI shall not go far. If your visitor comes, keep him until I return.\"\n\nAccordingly the next day the brother went a little way from home and hid\nhimself in a hollow tree from which he could watch their dwelling. Soon\nafter the girl's lover appeared, he returned to the lodge and at once\nfell upon the stranger, for he was very angry.\n\nFor some time they wrestled together in silence, and neither was able to\ngain the mastery over the other. Finally, however, the brother felt that\nhe was being overcome, and he cried out:\n\n\"Sister, help, help!\"\n\nThe girl did not know what to do, but she seized her axe and was about\nto strike one of the young men when he cried out:\n\n\"Take care, sister!\"\n\nThen she raised her axe against the other, but he too exclaimed: \"Take\ncare, sister!\"\n\nShe became more and more bewildered, for the two looked so much alike\nthat it was impossible to tell which one was really her brother.\n\nAt last, however, she made up her mind to strike at the stranger, but\nlike a flash of light he eluded her and spoke:\n\n\"My friend, do not try to resist me any longer! I came not to harm you\nor this maiden, but to make her my wife! Know that I am the Sun, and she\nshall be the Moon and rule over the night if she will come with me!\"\n\n\"Upon this the maiden yielded and went with him,\" said Grandfather; \"but\nyou see that she will not shine every night, for she was only a mortal\nmaiden and is soon wearied. You know we call the Sun our Grandfather and\nthe Moon Grandmother, and we also believe that the Stars are their\nchildren. Some time I shall tell you how a Star, too, loved an earthly\nmaid.\"\n\n\n\n\nEIGHTEENTH EVENING\n\nWOOD-CHOPPER AND BERRY-PICKER\n\n\n\n\nEIGHTEENTH EVENING\n\n\n\"A long time ago,\" says the old story-teller, \"man was nearer the animal\npeople than he is to-day; they even spoke the same language and seemed\nto understand one another perfectly. Sometimes he loved and married\namong them, but his children were not so good and noble as the first\nman. There was something of the animal in them.\n\n\"There are many stories of this sort, but some of them are long and hard\nto understand. Perhaps you have heard of Tidoona and Tankadoona, the\nIndoor One and the Outdoor One, in which the little boy is half-brother\nto a Bear cub and they meet and play together in secret. To-night,\nhowever, I will tell you another story.\"\n\n\nWOOD-CHOPPER AND BERRY-PICKER\n\nIn the old days, when men and animals spoke one language, a young man\nwho had grown tired of living alone set out to look for a wife. He had\nnot travelled far when he came to a stream of clear water which had been\ndammed to make a small, round pond. On the shore of the pond was a neat,\ndome-shaped lodge, and just outside the lodge a pretty woman was busily\nchopping wood.\n\nThe young man stood for some time watching her from behind a tree. Being\npleased with her looks and especially with her industry, he presently\nshowed himself, and the girl, whose name was Beaver-woman, received him\nso kindly that in a short time they had decided to marry and go to\nhouse-keeping.\n\nWhen their little boy came, the proud father wished to take him back and\nshow him to his own people, but to this his wife would not consent.\n\n\"If you must return,\" said she, \"very well; but we cannot go with you!\"\n\nSo the young man, who had a great longing to see again the faces of his\nkinsfolk, left them behind and journeyed to his father's village. He\nmade them a short visit, and then hastened back to his own home.\n\nAlas, there was no home there! The lodge was destroyed, the dam broken,\nthe pond itself gone, the singing brook was only a thin trickle of\nwater, and his wife and son were nowhere to be found!\n\nThe unhappy young man lay upon the ground, mourning for his lost wife\nand little boy, until a handsome young woman dressed all in black came\nout of the woods. She supposed that he must be faint for want of food,\nso she brought him sweet roots and berries. When he had eaten, she\nkindly combed his hair and washed his face, and after he was refreshed,\nshe comforted him with loving words and caresses, so that he soon forgot\nthe Beaver-woman and took her to be his wife.\n\nTogether they went to look for a home. The young man chose a beautiful\nopen spot overlooking much country, but his wife, whose name was\nBerry-Picker, laughed at him, saying:\n\n\"Our people never live in such an open place as that!\"\n\nShe chose a sheltered spot at the foot of the hill, and there they began\nto hollow out a comfortable dwelling under the upturned roots of an old\nfallen tree.\n\nWhen Berry-Picker, the Bear wife, sent her husband out to look for\nbedding, he brought in much dry grass; but the Bear wife reproved him,\nsaying:\n\n\"Why, husband! you expose our home to the eyes of all!\"\n\nAll about their lodge were bare spots where he had pulled the grass, so\nthey had to find a new place in which to live.\n\nAt last the pair were snug and warm for the winter, and as it was now\ntime to go to sleep, they did so, and slept until they were aroused by\nthe barking of a Dog and the footsteps of a hunter on the crisp snow.\n\nThe Bear wife struck the roof of her house, and a Partridge flew up out\nof the snow with a great whirring of wings. The Dog followed the\nPartridge and the hunter followed the Dog.\n\nWhen the hunter came for the second time, she started a Rabbit, which\ndrew the Dog away, and he drew away the hunter.\n\nBut when he persisted, and came back for the third time, she left her\nhome and ran for her life, leaving her husband to follow as best he\ncould.\n\n[Illustration]\n\nHe ran on and on, following his wife's tracks in the deep snow, until he\ncame to a little hut where lived an old Bear.\n\n\"Where are you going, my son?\" inquired the old man.\n\n\"Oh,\" he replied, \"I am only travelling for pleasure!\"\n\n\"Do not try to deceive me,\" said the old Bear. \"I know well whom you\nseek! Berry-Picker passed this way only yesterday, on her way to rejoin\nher people.\"\n\n\"And where do her people live?\" asked the young husband.\n\n\"They live not far away, my son; but be on your guard; they are a\ndeceitful people and will give you much trouble!\"\n\nThanking the old man, he hurried on, and soon came to the village of the\nBears. It was a large village, and the people seemed to have plenty to\neat and to be very merry, for they were singing and dancing. As the\nstranger drew near, every young woman in the great camp came running to\nmeet him. They all looked alike, for every one was dressed in glossy\nblack and all were plump and handsome, and they all crowded about him\nas if to embrace him, crying:\n\n\"Welcome home, my husband!\"\n\nNow the young man became very angry, for he knew that the Bears were\ntrying to deceive him, and that if he did not know his own wife, they\nwould take his life. He took no notice of any of the young women, but\nturned his back on the village and went home to his own country.\n\nThis story is told for a warning to those who wish to marry among\nstrangers.\n\n\n\n\nNINETEENTH EVENING\n\nTHE SON-IN-LAW\n\n\n\n\nNINETEENTH EVENING\n\n\n\"Tell us, grandfather, who is Chanotedah?\" bursts out Waola even before\nthe children are fairly seated. \"Uncle told me to-day when I was hunting\nto beware of the Little Man of the Woods, for if I should meet him I\nmight lose my way and never smell the camp fire again! But when I asked\nwhere he was to be found, and how I should know him, he only laughed at\nme and went on making arrows.\"\n\n\"This Chanotedah is indeed a mischievous fellow,\" explains the good old\nman. \"He is no larger than a three-year-old child, and is covered with\nhair. His home is in a hollow tree, and his weapons are the brilliantly\ncolored feathers of gay birds. He delights in confusing the lone hunter\nwho is so unlucky as to come upon him in the depths of the forest. That\nyou may know why this little man has a grudge against our race, I will\ntell you a story.\"\n\n\nTHE SON-IN-LAW\n\nOnce upon a time there was a young girl whose parents had been taken by\nthe enemy, and who lived alone with her elder brother in the forest,\nwithout kinsfolk or neighbors. The young man was a clever hunter who\nprovided more than enough for their needs, and the sister kept his lodge\nin order and his moccasins well mended, so that for a long time they\nlived happily together without other company.\n\nA day came, however, when the young man wished to go upon a journey and\nto see something of the world. He therefore called upon the Little Man\nof the Woods, Chanotedah, and begged him to look after his sister during\nhis absence. He then took his bow and quiver full of arrows, and set out\nto discover strange countries.\n\nThe traveller met with no adventures until the third day, when he saw\nseveral boys playing outside the entrance to their dwelling, which\nappeared to be merely a cave in the side of a hill.\n\n\"Here comes our brother-in-law!\" they cried, and all ran back into the\ncave.\n\nThe young man was curious to know what this meant, and he went boldly\nin. Opposite the door of the cave there sat a handsome young woman,\nwhile her father and mother were seated upon either side of the fire.\nThe old man at once arose and greeted the stranger.\n\n\"Ho, my son-in-law!\" he exclaimed; whereupon the old wife served him\nwith food and waited upon him hospitably.\n\nIt appeared, however, that the young woman was kindly disposed toward\nthis good-looking youth, for she soon contrived to warn him secretly of\nher father's intentions toward him.\n\n\"When my father takes you hunting with him,\" she said, \"you must take\ncare always to keep behind him. If he tells you to follow any animal, do\nnot do so, but shoot it from where you stand!\"\n\nNext day the old man invited his guest to hunt, and by and by they saw a\nwhite Marten in the wood.\n\n\"Chase it, chase it, son-in-law!\" exclaimed the old man, but the youth\nstood still and killed the creature with an arrow from his quiver. Alas,\nit was no marten, but one of the boys whom he had seen playing outside\nthe cave!\n\n[Illustration: DO NOT SHOOT A WHITE DEER WHEN YOU SEE HIM COMING TOWARD\nYOU]\n\nThe next day a white Magpie flew across the path, and the old man again\ncalled on his guest to follow. He stopped and aimed an arrow instead,\nwhich pierced the second boy to the heart.\n\n\"Do not shoot a white Deer when you see him coming toward you,\" begged\nthe girl of her lover on the third morning, for she wished to save her\nyoungest brother's life. The young man spared the Deer, and the last of\nthe boys came home unhurt; but he himself remembered her warning and\ntook care to keep behind, so that the old man had no chance to kill him.\n\n\"Ah, my son-in-law, you have beaten me! Take my daughter; she is now\nyour wife,\" he said to the young man, who thereupon took his wife home\nto his own lodge, and his brother-in-law whose life he had spared he\ntook with them to be husband to his sister.\n\nThe Little Man of the Woods had guarded the girl safely, but meanwhile\nhe had fallen in love with her and desired to marry her. Being refused,\nhe went away angry and hid in a hollow tree, where he still lives, and\nall who walk alone in the forest fear to meet him, for he wishes nothing\nso much as to do a mischief to the descendants of the sister and\nbrother.\n\n\n\n\nTWENTIETH EVENING\n\nTHE COMRADES\n\n\n\n\nTWENTIETH EVENING\n\n\n\"There is another bad character of whom we have all heard, and some of\nus have met him,\" begins the teacher. \"His name tells you what he is. He\nhas two faces; one he shows at first when he wishes to be agreeable and\nhas some object to gain; but as soon as he is found out he turns the\nugly, scowling face upon you.\n\n\"Remember, children, you should not keep two faces--a pleasant one for\nstrangers and a cross face to show when you are at home! Try to imitate\nthe heroes of old, the great and good and helpful, such as the Stone\nBoy, the Star Boy, the Avenger, he who wears the White Plume, and he who\nshot the Red Eagle! If I should be spared to live another winter, I\nwill tell you of them all. To-night we will hear the pleasant story of\nMashtinna and his brother-friend.\"\n\n\nTHE COMRADES\n\nMashtinna, the Rabbit, was a handsome young man, and, moreover, of a\nkind disposition. One day, when he was hunting, he heard a child crying\nbitterly, and made all haste in the direction of the sound.\n\nOn the further side of the wood he found one tormenting a baby boy with\nwhips and pinches, laughing heartily meanwhile and humming a mother's\nlullaby.\n\n\"What do you mean by abusing this innocent child?\" demanded the Rabbit;\nbut the other showed a smiling face and replied pleasantly:\n\n\"You do not know what you are talking about! The child is fretful, and I\nam merely trying to quiet him.\"\n\nMashtinna was not deceived, for he had guessed that this was\nDouble-Face, who delights in teasing the helpless ones.\n\n\"Give the boy to me!\" he insisted; so that Double-Face became angry, and\nshowed the other side of his face, which was black and scowling.\n\n\"The boy is mine,\" he declared, \"and if you say another word I shall\ntreat you as I have treated him!\"\n\nUpon this, Mashtinna fitted an arrow to the string, and shot the wicked\none through the heart.\n\nHe then took the child on his arm and followed the trail to a small and\npoor teepee. There lived an old man and his wife, both of them blind and\nnearly helpless, for all of their children and grandchildren, even to\nthe smallest and last, had been lured away by wicked Double-Face.\n\n\"Ho, grandfather, grandmother! I have brought you back the child!\"\nexclaimed the Rabbit, as he stood in the doorway.\n\nBut the poor, blind old people had so often been deceived by that\nheartless Double-Face that they no longer believed anything; therefore\nthey both cried out:\n\n\"Ugh, you liar! we don't believe a word you say! Get away with you, do!\"\n\nSince they refused to take the child, and it was now almost night, the\nkind-hearted young man wrapped the boy in his own blanket and lay down\nwith him to sleep. The next morning, when he awoke, he found to his\nsurprise that the child had grown up during the night and was now a\nhandsome young man, so much like him that they might have been twin\nbrothers.\n\n\"My friend, we are now comrades for life!\" exclaimed the strange youth.\n\"We shall each go different ways in the world, doing all the good we\ncan; but if either is ever in need of help let him call upon the other\nand he will come instantly to his aid!\"\n\nThe other agreed, and they set out in opposite directions. Not long\nafter, the Rabbit heard a loud groaning and crying as of some person in\ngreat pain. When he reached the spot, he found a man with his body\nwedged tightly in the forks of a tree, which the wind swayed to and fro.\nHe could not by any means get away, and was in great misery.\n\n\"I will take your place, brother!\" exclaimed the generous young man,\nupon which the tree immediately parted, and the tree-bound was free.\nMashtinna took his place and the tree closed upon him like a vise and\npinched him severely.\n\nThe pain was worse than he had supposed, but he bore it as long as he\ncould without crying out. Sweat beaded his forehead and his veins\nswelled to bursting; at last he could endure it no longer, and called\nloudly upon his comrade to help him. At once the young man appeared and\nstruck the tree so that it parted and Mashtinna was free.\n\nHe kept on his journey until he spied a small wigwam quite by itself on\nthe edge of a wood. Lifting the door-flap, he saw no one but an old\nblind man, who greeted him thankfully.\n\n\"Ho, my grandson! you see me, I am old and poor. All the day I see no\none. When I wish to drink, this raw-hide lariat leads me to the stream\nnear by. When I need dry sticks for my fire, I follow this other rope\nand feel my way among the trees. I have food enough, for these bags are\npacked with dried meat for my use. But alas, my grandson, I am all\nalone here, and I am blind!\"\n\n\"Take my eyes, grandfather!\" at once exclaimed the kind-hearted young\nman. \"You shall go where you will, and I will remain here in your\nplace.\"\n\n\"Ho, ho, my grandson, you are very good!\" replied the old man, and he\ngladly took the eyes of the Rabbit and went out into the world. The\nyouth stayed behind, and as he was hungry, he ate of the dried meat in\nthe bags.\n\nThis made him very thirsty, so he took hold of the raw-hide rope and\nfollowed it to the stream; but as he stooped to the brink, the rope\nbroke and Mashtinna fell in.\n\nThe water was cold and the bank slippery, but after a hard struggle he\ngot out again and made his way back to the teepee, dripping wet and very\nmiserable. Wishing to make a fire and dry his clothes, he seized the\nother rope and went to the wood for sticks.\n\nHowever, when he began to gather the sticks he lost the rope, and being\nquite blind he did nothing but stumble over fallen logs, and bruise\nhimself against the trunks of trees, and scratch his face among the\nbriers and brambles, until at last he could bear it no longer, and cried\nout to his comrade to come to his aid.\n\nInstantly the youth appeared and gave him back his eyes, saying at the\nsame time:\n\n\"Friend, be not so rash in future! It is right to help those who are in\ntrouble, but one must also consider whether he himself is able to hold\nout to the end.\"\n\n\n\n\nTWENTY-FIRST EVENING\n\nTHE LAUGH-MAKER\n\n\n\n\nTWENTY-FIRST EVENING\n\n\n\"You remember the young man who married among the Bear people,\" begins\nGrandfather. \"Now to us the Bear seems at times almost human; he can\nstand and even walk erect; he will cry and groan very like a man when\nhurt, and there are those who say that he laughs. In the old stories the\nBears are a powerful nation; and there is a young man, perhaps the same\none I told you of before, who is said to have been living among them at\none time with his wife, Woshpee, and their little son.\"\n\n\nTHE LAUGH-MAKER\n\nThe village of the Bears was a large one, and the people were well-fed\nand prosperous. Upon certain days, a herald went the round of the\nlodges, announcing in a loud voice that the time had come to \"go\na-laughing.\" Not a Bear was left in the village at such times, for every\none went, old and young, sick and well, the active and the lame. Only\nthe stranger remained at home, although his wife, Woshpee, always went\nwith her kinsfolk, for somehow he did not feel inclined to \"go\na-laughing;\" and he kept with him his little son, who was half Bear and\nhalf human.\n\nOne day, however, a curiosity seized him to know what this laughing\nbusiness might be. He took his boy and followed the Bears at a distance,\nnot choosing to be seen. Their trail led to the shore of the Great\nWater, and when he had come as near as he could without exposing\nhimself, he climbed a tall pine from whose bushy top he could observe\nall that took place.\n\nThe gathering of the Bears was on a deep bay that jutted inland. Its\nrocky shores were quite black with them, and as soon as all had become\nquiet, an old Bear advanced to the water's edge and called in a loud\nvoice:\n\n\"E-ha-we-cha-ye-la, e-ha-un-he-pee lo! (Laugh-maker, we are come to\nlaugh!)\"\n\nWhen he had called four times, a small object appeared in the midst of\nthe water and began to swim toward the shore. By and by the strange\ncreature sprawled and clambered out upon a solitary rock that stood\npartly above the water.\n\nThe Laugh-maker was hairless and wrinkled like a new-born child; it had\nthe funniest feet, or hands, or flippers, with which it tried to walk,\nbut only tumbled and flopped about. In the water it was graceful enough,\nbut on dry land so ungainly and ridiculous that the vast concourse of\nBears was thrown into fits of hysterical laughter.\n\n\"Ha, ha, ha! Waugh, waugh!\" they roared, lifting their ugly long muzzles\nand opening their gaping jaws. Some of them could no longer hold on to\nthe boughs of the trees, or the rocks on which they had perched, and\ncame tumbling down on the heads of the crowd, adding much to the fun.\nEvery motion of the little \"Laugh-maker\" produced fresh roars of\nimmoderate laughter.\n\nAt last the Bears grew weak and helpless with laughing. Hundreds of them\nsprawled out upon the sand, quite unable to rise. Then the old man again\nadvanced and cried out:\n\n\"E-ha-we-cha-ye-la, wan-na e-ha un-ta-pe ktay do! (Laugh-maker, we are\nalmost dead with laughing!)\" Upon this the little creature swam back\ninto deep water and disappeared.\n\nNow the stranger was not at all amused and in fact could see nothing to\nlaugh at. When all the Bears had got up and dispersed to their homes he\ncame down from the tree with his little son, and the child wished to\nimitate his great-grandfather Bear. He went out alone on the sandy beach\nand began to call in his piping voice:\n\n\"Laugh-maker, we are come to laugh!\"\n\nWhen he had called four times, the little creature again showed its\nsmooth black head above the water.\n\n\"Ha, ha, ha! Why don't you laugh, papa? It is so funny!\" the boy cried\nout breathlessly.\n\nBut his father looked on soberly while the thing went through all its\nusual antics, and the little boy laughed harder and harder, until at\nlast he rolled and rolled on the sandy beach, almost dead with\nlaughter.\n\n\"Papa,\" he gasped, \"if you do not stop this funny thing I shall die!\"\n\nThen the father picked up his bow and strung it. He gave one more look\nat his boy, who was gasping for breath; then he fitted a sharp arrow to\nthe bow and pierced the little Laugh-maker to the heart. He went out and\ntook the skin, and they returned in silence to the camp of the Bears.\n\nNow the next time that the herald called upon the Bears to \"go\na-laughing,\" the skin of the Laugh-maker was almost dry, but they knew\nnothing of it. They went away as usual, and left the young man alone\nwith his son. But he, knowing that his wife's kinsfolk would kill him\nwhen they discovered what he had done, took the skin for a quiver and\nwent homeward with his child.\n\n\n\n\nTWENTY-SECOND EVENING\n\nTHE RUNAWAYS\n\n\n\n\nTWENTY-SECOND EVENING\n\n\n\"Some say,\" remarks Grandfather, \"that the hero of the story I am about\nto tell you is the same as the kind-hearted young man of whom you heard\nnot long ago--Mashtinna, the Rabbit. You will remember that he was\nuncommonly handsome as well as generous. This time he falls in love, and\nthere is a wicked old woman in the way; but you will learn some day that\ntrue love is able to defy and to outwit all its enemies!\"\n\n\nTHE RUNAWAYS\n\nThere was once a young man who had journeyed a long way from home in\nsearch of adventure. One day he came to a strange village on the border\nof a great wood, but while yet some distance from the lodges, he\nhappened to glance upward. In the boughs of a tree just above his head\nhe saw a light scaffold, and on the scaffold a maiden sitting at her\nneedle-work.\n\nInstead of boldly entering the village, as he had intended, the youth\nwalked on a little way, then turned and again passed under the tree. He\ndid this several times, and each time he looked up, for the girl was the\nprettiest that he had ever seen.\n\nHe did not show himself to the people, but for several days he lingered\non the borders of the wood, and at last he ventured to speak with the\nmaiden and to ask her to be his wife. She did not seem to be at all\nunwilling; however, she said to him:\n\n\"You must be very careful, for my grandmother does not wish me to\nmarry. She is a very wicked old woman, and has thus far succeeded in\nkilling every one of my suitors.\"\n\n\"In that case, we must run away,\" the young man replied. \"To-night, when\nyour grandmother is asleep, pull up some of the tent-pins and come out.\nI shall be waiting for you!\"\n\nThe girl did as he had said, and that same night they fled together and\nby morning were far from the village.\n\nHowever, the maiden kept looking over her shoulder as if fearing\npursuit, and at last her lover said to her:\n\n\"Why do you continue to look behind you? They will not have missed you\nuntil daylight, and it is quite certain now that no one can overtake\nus!\"\n\n\"Ah,\" she replied, \"my grandmother has powerful magic! She can cover a\nwhole day's journey at one step, and I am convinced that she is upon\nour trail.\"\n\n\"In that case, you shall see that I too know something of magic,\"\nreturned the young man. Forthwith he threw down one of his mittens, and\nlo! their trail was changed to the trail of a Buffalo. He threw down the\nother mitten, and it became the carcass of a Buffalo lying at the end of\nthe trail.\n\n\"She will follow thus far and no farther,\" he declared; but the maiden\nshook her head, and ceased not from time to time to glance over her\nshoulder as they hastened onward.\n\nIn truth it was not long till she perceived the old woman in the\ndistance, coming on with great strides and shaking her cane and her gray\nhead at the runaways.\n\n\"Now it is my turn!\" the girl exclaimed, and threw down her comb, which\nbecame a thick forest behind the fleeing ones, so that the angry old\nwoman was held back by the dense underbrush.\n\nWhen she had come out of the forest at last and was again gaining upon\nthem, the girl threw her awl over her shoulder and it became a chain of\nmountains with high peaks and sharp precipices, so that the grandmother\nwas kept back longer than before. Nevertheless, her magic was strong,\nand she still struggled on after the lovers.\n\nIn the meantime, they had come to the bank of a river both wide and\ndeep, and here they stood for a while doubting how they should cross,\nfor there was neither boat nor ford. However, there were two Cranes near\nby, and to these the young man addressed himself.\n\n\"My friends,\" said he, \"I beg of you to stand on the opposite banks of\nthis river and stretch your necks across, so that we may cross in\nsafety! Only do this, and I will give to each of you a fine ornament for\nyour breast, and long fringes on your leggings, so that you will\nhereafter be called the handsomest of birds!\"\n\n[Illustration]\n\nThe Cranes were willing to oblige, and they stood thus with their beaks\ntouching over the stream, so that the lovers crossed on their long necks\nin safety.\n\n\"Now,\" exclaimed the young man, \"I must ask of you one more favor! If an\nold woman should come down to the river and seek your help, place your\nheads together once more as if to allow her to cross, but when she is\nhalf way over you must draw back and let her fall in mid-stream. Do\nthis, and I promise you that you shall never be in want!\"\n\nIn a little while the old woman came down to the river, quite out of\nbreath, and more angry than before. As soon as she noticed the two\nCranes, she began to scold and order them about.\n\n\"Come here, you long-necks, you ungainly creatures, come and help me\nover this river!\" she cried.\n\nThe two Cranes again stood beak to beak, but when the wicked grandmother\nhad crossed half way they pulled in their necks and into the water she\nwent, screaming out threats and abuse as she whirled through the air.\nThe current swept her quickly away and she was drowned, for there is no\nmagic so strong that it will prevail against true love.\n\n\n\n\nTWENTY-THIRD EVENING\n\nTHE GIRL WHO MARRIED THE STAR\n\n\n\n\nTWENTY-THIRD EVENING\n\n\n\"Ah, here is our little Humming-bird, always the first to raise the\ndoor-flap!\" is the old teacher's pleasant greeting.\n\n\"That is because I do not want to lose one word of your good stories,\nGrandfather,\" murmurs the little maiden, with her pretty, upward glance\nand bashful smile.\n\n\"I have one for you to-night that ought to please you,\" he answers\nthoughtfully. \"You know the shining Star people in the heavens above\nus--you have gazed upon them and doubtless dreamed that you were among\nthem. We believe them to be a higher race than ours. Listen, then, to my\nstory.\"\n\n\nTHE GIRL WHO MARRIED THE STAR\n\nThere were once two sisters who lived alone in an uninhabited place.\nThis was a long time ago, when the tribes upon earth were few, and the\nanimal people were friendly to man. The name of one of the girls was\nEarth, and the other was called Water.\n\nAll their food was brought to them by their animal friends. The Bears\nsupplied them with nuts, berries and wild turnips, and the Bees brought\ncombs dripping with honey. They ate no flesh, for that would be to take\nlife. They dwelt in a lodge made of birch-bark, and their beds were mats\nwoven of rushes.\n\nOne clear, summer night the girls lay awake upon their beds, looking up\nthrough the smoke-hole of their wigwam and telling one another all their\nthoughts.\n\n\"Sister,\" said the Earth, \"I have seen a handsome young man in my\ndreams, and it seemed to me that he came from up yonder!\"\n\n\"I too have seen a man in my dreams,\" replied her sister, \"and he was a\ngreat brave.\"\n\n\"Do you not think these bright stars above us are the sky men of whom we\nhave dreamed?\" suggested the Earth.\n\n\"If that is true, sister, and it may be true,\" said the Water, \"I choose\nthat brightest Star for my husband!\"\n\n\"And I,\" declared her sister, \"choose for my husband that little\ntwinkling Star!\"\n\nBy and by the sisters slept; and when they awoke, they found themselves\nin the sky! The husband of the elder sister who had chosen the bright\nstar was an old warrior with a shining name, but the husband of the\nyounger girl was a fine-looking young man, who had as yet no great\nreputation.\n\nThe Star men were kind to their wives, who lived very happily in their\nnew home. One day they went out to dig wild turnips, and the old warrior\nsaid to his wife:\n\n\"When you are digging, you must not hit the ground too hard!\"\n\nThe younger man also warned his wife, saying:\n\n\"Do not hit the ground too hard!\"\n\nHowever, the Earth forgot, and in her haste she struck the ground so\nhard with the sharp-pointed stick with which she dug turnips, that the\nfloor of the sky was broken and she fell through.\n\nTwo very old people found the poor girl lying in the meadow.\n\nThey kindly made for her a little wigwam of pine boughs, and brought\nferns for her bed. The old woman nursed her as well as she could, but\nshe did nothing but wail and cry.\n\n\"Let me go to him!\" she begged. \"I cannot live without my husband!\"\n\nNight came, and the stars appeared in the sky as usual. Only the little\ntwinkling Star did not appear, for he was now a widower and had painted\nhis face quite black.\n\nThe poor wife waited for him a long time, but he did not come, because\nhe could not. At last she slept, and dreamed she saw a tiny red Star in\nthe sky that had not been there before.\n\n\"Ah!\" said she, \"that is Red Star, my son!\"\n\nIn the morning she found at her side a pretty little boy, a Star Boy,\nwho afterward grew to be a handsome young man and had many adventures.\nHis guides by night through the pathless woods were the Star children of\nhis mother's sister, his cousins in the sky.\n\n\n\n\nTWENTY-FOURTH EVENING\n\nNORTH WIND AND STAR BOY\n\n\n\n\nTWENTY-FOURTH EVENING\n\n\n\"Hun, hun, hay! Old man Wazeya, the North Wind, is again on the\nwar-path! You are brave children to come out to-night! See, he shakes\nhis downy feather robe, and the little snow-flakes fly fast and faster!\nHe gives his war-whoop, and cowards seek the safe shelter of their own\nwigwams. You are no cowards, I am sure of that, so I shall tell you of\nthe battle between Wazeya and one of our great heroes, the son of a\nmortal maiden and a Star.\"\n\n\nNORTH WIND AND STAR BOY\n\nIn the very old days at the beginning of things, Star Boy went about the\nworld as a champion, defending all feeble folk against the attacks of\ntheir enemies.\n\nThe champion was so strong that he could not bend his bow of wood\nwithout breaking it, therefore he armed himself with a bone bow, a bone\nknife and a stone war-club.\n\nOne day, he came to the village of the Frogs, who poured out of their\nlodges to meet him and set before him food, but no water. \"He who goes\nto the water,\" said they, \"never returns. A great warrior lies there who\nhas swallowed many of us alive, and now we are perishing of thirst!\"\n\nStar Boy himself was so thirsty that after he had eaten, he went down to\nthe water, and was instantly swallowed by Tamahay, the Pickerel. But\nwith his bone knife he slashed the Pickerel in the gills and escaped;\nafter which he warned the big fish, saying: \"Be careful how you\nwantonly destroy this people, for some day they will be used to destroy\nyou!\"\n\n[Illustration: STAR BOY ATTACKED BY HINHAN, THE OWL.\n\n_Page 215_]\n\nHe then went on his way, as far as another village of Little People, who\ncomplained that they had no fire-wood.\n\n\"We dare not go to the wood any more,\" they said, \"for there a fierce\nwarrior lives who swoops down from above and devours us!\"\n\nStar Boy at once went to the wood, where he was attacked by Hinhan, the\nOwl. Him he easily conquered with his stone war-club. \"Because of your\ncruelty,\" he said to the Owl, \"the sun shall blind you hereafter, so\nthat you can hunt only in the dark, when the Mouse people are advised to\ntake to their holes and hiding-places.\"\n\nNow Star Boy travelled northward, until he had reached the very\nnorthernmost country, and in that far land he found a people in great\ndistress. That was because they feared Wazeya, the North Wind, who drove\naway the buffalo herds so that they had no meat. \"And when he points his\nfinger at one of us,\" said they, \"that man dies!\"\n\n\"Come, let us hunt the buffalo!\" said Star Boy to them; and although\nthey were starving, they were afraid and unwilling to go. However, he\nmade some of the men go out with him, and upon the open plain they met\nwith North Wind, who at once challenged the champion to do battle. The\ntwo rushed upon one another with great fury, and in the first onset Star\nBoy broke the bow of North Wind; but in the second, Star Boy was\noverthrown and lay as one dead.\n\nHowever, after a time he got up again, and they met for the third bout,\nwhen lo! neither could prevail against the other, so that in the midst\nof the fight they were obliged to sit upon a snowbank to rest. Star Boy\nsat upon his calf-skin and fanned himself with an eagle-wing, and\nimmediately the snow began to melt and the North Wind was forced to\nretreat. Before he went away, he made a treaty of peace with Star Boy,\npromising to come to earth for half the year only, and to give timely\nwarning of his approach, so that the people might prepare for his coming\nand lay up food against the day of scarcity. By this means the winter\nand summer were established among us.\n\n\n\n\nTWENTY-FIFTH EVENING\n\nTHE TEN VIRGINS\n\n\n\n\nTWENTY-FIFTH EVENING\n\n\nThe strong sun of March still hovers over the deep blue lake, and last\nnight's snow flurry has quite vanished from the pleasant, brown face of\nour Grandmother Earth, when the children arrive at Smoky Day's wide-open\ndoorway. There is a tang in the air and a stir in the blood to-night\nthat moves the old man to tell a tale of youth and adventure. And this\nis the tale:\n\n\nTHE TEN VIRGINS\n\nThere were once two brothers who loved one maiden, and it appeared that\nthe younger brother was the favorite. One day, the jealous elder invited\nhis brother to go hunting with him upon an island in the great lake, a\nday's journey in canoes from their village.\n\nNo sooner had they touched shore than the elder said:\n\n\"Do you go to the other end of the island, and I will drive the Deer\ntoward you!\"\n\nThe other obeyed; but although he waited a long time on the further\nside, no Deer appeared, nor did he see anything of his brother. At last\nhe returned through the woods to the spot where they had landed; and\nbehold! the canoe with his brother was almost out of sight on the blue\nwaters of the lake.\n\nThe young man, thus abandoned, wandered about the island for many days,\nliving upon the game which he found there in abundance. He had grown\nvery lonely and tired of his solitary life, when one day a strange old\nman with long, white hair appeared on the shore.\n\n\"My son,\" said he, \"you look unhappy! Tell me if there is anything you\nwish for.\"\n\n\"I want nothing except to cross the water to the mainland,\" replied the\nyoung man, \"but I have no boat nor the means of making one.\"\n\n\"Get upon my back, and I will take you over in safety,\" returned the\npatriarch. Accordingly he took him upon his back and swam across the\nlake with his burden.\n\nNow the young man was grateful to his rescuer and he no longer cared to\nreturn to his own people and to the brother who had betrayed him,\ntherefore he went with the old man to his wigwam to hunt for him.\n\nOne day, when he was out hunting as usual, he thought he heard the\nfar-off, musical sound of girls' laughter from the depths of the forest.\nHe turned in the direction of the sound and soon came upon a broad\ntrail, which he followed until he was overtaken by nine young men, all\nrunning eagerly along the same trail.\n\nThey at once made him join their company, saying that they had needed\njust one more to complete their number. The ten hastened on, and\npresently they overtook ten beautiful young damsels. Night fell, and\nthey all went into camp together on the shore of the great lake.\n\nThe girls were very friendly and chatted pleasantly with the young men\nduring the evening, until each party retired to sleep under a hurriedly\nmade arbor of green boughs.\n\nVery early in the morning the youths awoke; but lo! their companions had\nvanished, and they could see only the flash of a distant paddle where\nlake met sky at the far-off horizon line.\n\n[Illustration: SHE TOOK UP HANDSFUL OF ASHES TO THROW INTO THEIR FACES.\n\n_Page 227_]\n\nThere was no boat, and they were about to go back in despair, when the\nyoung man who had last joined the party spied a little mussel shell at\nthe edge of the water, and invited them to step in. At first they were\ndoubtful and hung back; but in the end one ventured and stepped into the\nshell, which bore up his weight. Then another and another followed,\nuntil the ten men stood upon the shell, which had become a fine large\ncanoe, and carried them all in safety to the opposite shore.\n\nThere they beheld the great white wigwam in which dwelt the ten virgins\nwith their grandmother, who was a wicked old witch.\n\nAs soon as she saw the young men she took up handfuls of ashes to throw\ninto their faces, and one after another fell senseless at her feet.\n\nLast of all came the fortunate younger brother. He had borrowed the\nweapons of the old man with whom he lived, and it chanced that this man\nwas a greater wonder-worker even than the witch. Therefore he had merely\nturned toward her his magic shield to keep off the shower of ashes, when\nthe old woman lost all her power to hurt, and at once each lusty young\nman sprang quickly up to claim his bride.\n\n\n\n\nTWENTY-SIXTH EVENING\n\nTHE MAGIC ARROWS\n\n\n\n\nTWENTY-SIXTH EVENING\n\n\nThe wise and old heads among the Indians love children's company, and\nnone is more sorry than Smoky Day when the village breaks up for the\nspring hunt, and story-telling is over for the season.\n\n\"I hope,\" he says kindly, \"that you have listened so well to these tales\nof our people, and repeated them so often that you will never forget\nthem!\"\n\n\"We have, grandfather, we have!\" they reply in chorus.\n\n\"We must not only remember and repeat,\" he continues, \"but we must\nconsider and follow their teachings, for it is so that these legends\nthat have come down to us from the old time are kept alive by each new\ngeneration. There is much to learn from the story of one who was so\nmodest that he took the form of a ragged and homeless little boy, and\ndid his good deeds in secret.\"\n\n\nTHE MAGIC ARROWS\n\nThere was once a young man who wanted to go on a journey. His mother\nprovided him with sacks of dried meat and pairs of moccasins, but his\nfather said to him:\n\n\"Here, my son, are four magic arrows. When you are in need, shoot one of\nthem!\"\n\nThe young man went forth alone, and hunted in the forest for many days.\nUsually he was successful, but a day came when he was hungry and could\nnot find meat. Then he sent forth one of the magic arrows, and at the\nend of the day there lay a fat Bear with the arrow in his side. The\nhunter cut out the tongue for his meal, and of the body of the Bear he\nmade a thank-offering to the Great Mystery.\n\n[Illustration]\n\nAgain he was in need, and again in the morning he shot a magic arrow,\nand at nightfall beside his camp-fire he found an Elk lying with the\narrow in his heart. Once more he ate the tongue and offered up the body\nas a sacrifice. The third time he killed a Moose with his arrow, and the\nfourth time a Buffalo.\n\nAfter the fourth arrow had been spent, the young man came one day out of\nthe forest, and before him there lay a great circular village of skin\nlodges. At one side, and some little way from the rest of the people, he\nnoticed a small and poor tent where an old couple lived all alone. At\nthe edge of the wood he took off his clothes and hid them in a hollow\ntree. Then, touching the top of his head with his staff, he turned\nhimself into a little ragged boy and went toward the poor tent.\n\nThe old woman saw him coming, and said to her old man: \"Old man, let us\nkeep this little boy for our own! He seems to be a fine, bright-eyed\nlittle fellow, and we are all alone.\"\n\n\"What are you thinking of, old woman?\" grumbled the old man. \"We can\nhardly keep ourselves, and yet you talk of taking in a ragged little\nscamp from nobody knows where!\"\n\nIn the meantime the boy had come quite near, and the old wife beckoned\nto him to enter the lodge.\n\n\"Sit down, my grandson, sit down!\" she said, kindly; and, in spite of\nthe old man's black looks, she handed him a small dish of parched corn,\nwhich was all the food they had.\n\nThe boy ate and stayed on. By and by he said to the old woman:\n\"Grandmother, I should like to have grandfather make me some arrows!\"\n\n\"You hear, my old man?\" said she. \"It will be very well for you to make\nsome little arrows for the boy.\"\n\n\"And why should I make arrows for a strange little ragged boy?\" grumbled\nthe old man.\n\nHowever, he made two or three, and the boy went hunting. In a short\ntime he returned with several small birds. The old woman took them and\npulled off the feathers, thanking him and praising him as she did so.\nShe quickly made the little birds into soup, of which the old man ate\ngladly, and with the soft feathers she stuffed a small pillow.\n\n\"You have done well, my grandson!\" he said; for they were really very\npoor.\n\nNot long after, the boy said to his adopted grandmother: \"Grandmother,\nwhen you see me at the edge of the wood yonder, you must call out: 'A\nBear! there goes a Bear!'\"\n\nThis she did, and the boy again sent forth one of the magic arrows,\nwhich he had taken from the body of his game and kept by him. No sooner\nhad he shot, than he saw the same Bear that he had offered up, lying\nbefore him with the arrow in his side!\n\nNow there was great rejoicing in the lodge of the poor old couple. While\nthey were out skinning the Bear and cutting the meat in thin strips to\ndry, the boy sat alone in the lodge. In the pot on the fire was the\nBear's tongue, which he wanted for himself.\n\nAll at once a young girl stood in the doorway. She drew her robe\nmodestly before her face as she said in a low voice:\n\n\"I come to borrow the mortar of your grandmother!\"\n\nThe boy gave her the mortar, and also a piece of the tongue which he had\ncooked, and she went away.\n\nWhen all of the Bear meat was gone, the boy sent forth a second arrow\nand killed an Elk, and with the third and fourth he shot the Moose and\nthe Buffalo as before, each time recovering his arrow.\n\n[Illustration]\n\nSoon after, he heard that the people of the large village were in\ntrouble. A great Red Eagle, it was said, flew over the village every\nday at dawn, and the people believed that it was a bird of evil omen,\nfor they no longer had any success in hunting. None of their braves had\nbeen able to shoot the Eagle, and the chief had offered his only\ndaughter in marriage to the man who should kill it.\n\nWhen the boy heard this, he went out early the next morning and lay in\nwait for the Red Eagle. At the touch of his magic arrow, it fell at his\nfeet, and the boy pulled out his arrow and went home without speaking to\nany one.\n\nBut the thankful people followed him to the poor little lodge, and when\nthey had found him, they brought the chief's beautiful daughter to be\nhis wife. Lo, she was the girl who had come to borrow his grandmother's\nmortar!\n\nThen he went back to the hollow tree where his clothes were hidden, and\ncame back a handsome young man, richly dressed for his wedding.\n\n\n\n\nTWENTY-SEVENTH EVENING\n\nTHE GHOST WIFE\n\n\n\n\nTWENTY-SEVENTH EVENING\n\n\nOn this last evening, the children are told to be especially quiet, and\nto listen reverently and earnestly, \"for these are the greater things of\nwhich I am about to tell you,\" says their old teacher.\n\n\"You have heard that the Great Mystery is everywhere. He is in the earth\nand the water, heat and cold, rocks and trees, sun and sky; and He is\nalso in us. When the spirit departs, that too is a mystery, and\ntherefore we do not speak aloud the name of the dead. There are wonders\nall about us, and within, but if we are quiet and obedient to the voice\nof the spirit, sometime we may understand these mysteries!\"\n\nIt is thus the old sage concludes his lessons, and over all the circle\nthere is a hush of loving reverence.\n\n\nTHE GHOST WIFE\n\nThere was once a young man who loved to be alone, and who often stayed\naway from the camp for days at a time, when it was said that Wolves,\nBears and other wild creatures joined him in his rovings.\n\nHe was once seen with several Deer about him, petting and handling them;\nbut when the Deer discovered the presence of a stranger, they snorted\nwith fear and quickly vanished. It was supposed that he had learned\ntheir language. All the birds answered his call, and even those\nfairy-like creatures of the air, the butterflies, would come to him\nfreely and alight upon his body.\n\n[Illustration: HE WAS ONCE SEEN WITH SEVERAL DEER ABOUT HIM, PETTING AND\nHANDLING THEM.\n\n_Page 247_]\n\nOne day, as he was lying in the meadow among the wild flowers,\ncompletely covered with butterflies of the most brilliant hues, as if it\nwere a gorgeous cloak that he was wearing, there suddenly appeared\nbefore him a beautiful young girl.\n\nThe youth was startled, for he knew her face. He had seen her often; it\nwas the chiefs daughter, the prettiest maiden in the village, who had\ndied ten days before!\n\nThe truth was that she had loved this young man in secret, but he had\ngiven no thought to her, for he cared only for the wild creatures and\nhad no mind for human ways. Now, as she stood silently before him with\ndowncast eyes, he looked upon her pure face and graceful form, and there\nawoke in his heart the love that he had never felt before.\n\n\"But she is a spirit now!\" he said to himself sorrowfully, and dared not\nspeak to her.\n\nHowever, she smiled archly upon him, in his strange and beautiful\ngarment, for she read his thoughts. Toward sunset, the butterflies flew\naway, and with them the ghost maiden departed.\n\nAfter this the young man was absent more than ever, and no one knew that\nthe spirit of the maiden came to him in the deep woods. He built for her\na lodge of pine boughs, and there she would come to cook his venison and\nto mend his moccasins, and sit with him beside his lonely camp-fire.\n\nBut at last he was not content with this and begged her to go with him\nto the village, for his mother and kinsfolk would not allow him to\nremain always away from them.\n\n\"Ah, my spirit wife,\" he begged, \"can you not return with me to my\npeople, so that I may have a home in their sight?\"\n\n\"It may be so,\" she replied thoughtfully, \"if you will carefully\nobserve my conditions. First, we must pitch our tent a little apart from\nthe rest of the people. Second, you must patiently bear with my absences\nand the strangeness of my behavior, for I can only visit them and they\nme in the night time. Third, you must never raise your voice in our\nteepee, and above all, let me never hear you speak roughly to a child in\nmy presence!\"\n\n\"All these I will observe faithfully,\" replied the young husband.\n\nNow it happened that after a longer absence than usual, he was seen to\ncome home with a wife. They pitched their tent some way from the\nvillage, and the people saw at a distance the figure of a graceful young\nwoman moving about the solitary white teepee. But whenever any of his\nrelatives approached to congratulate him and to bid her welcome, she\nwould take up her axe and go forth into the forest as if to cut wood\nfor her fire, or with her bucket for water.\n\nAt night, however, they came to see the young couple and found her at\nhome, but it appeared very strange that she did not speak to any of\nthem, not even by signs, though she smiled so graciously and sweetly\nthat they all loved her. Her husband explained that the girl was of\nanother race who have these strange ways, and by and by the people\nbecame used to them, and even ceased to wonder why they could never find\nher at home in the day time.\n\nSo they lived happily together, and in due time children came to them;\nfirst a boy, and a little girl afterward. But one night the father came\nhome tired and hungry from the hunt, and the little one cried loudly and\nwould not be quieted. Then for the first time he forgot his promise and\nspoke angrily to the mother and child.\n\nInstantly the fire went out and the tent was dark.\n\nWhen he had kindled the fire again, he saw that he was alone, nor did\ntears and searchings avail to find his wife and children. Alas, they\nwere gone from him forever!","title":"Wigwam Evenings: Sioux Folk Tales Retold","tradition":"myth-cosmogony","translated_text":null,"word_count":23608}