{"collection":"myth-cosmogony","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_45279/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_45279","id":"gutenberg_45279","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/45279","summary":null,"tags":["Category: Children & Young Adult Reading","Category: Mythology, Legends & Folklore","Fairy tales -- North America","Indians of North America -- Folklore","Tales -- North America"],"text":"AMERICAN INDIAN FAIRY TALES\n\nBy W.T. Larned\n\nIllustrated by John Rae\n\n1921\n\nP. F. Volland Company\n\nTwenty-ninth Edition\n\nWith one exception, all the tales in this book are adapted from the\nlegends collected by Henry R. Schoolcraft, ethnologist and government\nagent for the Lake Superior country, and published in 1839 with the\ntitle, \"Algic Researches.\"\n\n[Illustration: 0001]\n\n[Illustration: 0002]\n\n[Illustration: 0003]\n\n[Illustration: 0005]\n\n[Illustration: 0007]\n\n[Illustration: 0009]\n\n[Illustration: 0010]\n\n[Illustration: 0011]\n\n\n\n\nIagoo, the Story-Teller\n\n[Illustration: 9001]\n\nHERE never was anyone so wise and knowing as old Iagoo. There never was\nan Indian who saw and heard so much. He knew the secrets of the woods\nand fields, and understood the language of birds and beasts. All his\nlife long he had lived out of doors, wandering far in the forest where\nthe wild deer hide, or skimming the waters of the lake in his birch-bark\ncanoe.\n\nBesides the things he had learned for himself, Iagoo knew much more. He\nknew the fairy tales and the wonder stories told him by his grandfather,\nwho had heard them from his grandfather, and so on, away back to the\ntime when the world was young and strange, and there was magic in almost\neverything.\n\nIagoo was a great favorite with the children. No one knew better where\nto find the beautiful, colored shells which he strung into necklaces for\nthe little girls. No one could teach them so well just where to look for\nthe grasses which their nimble fingers wove into baskets. For the boys\nhe made bows and arrows--bows from the ash-tree, that would bend far\nback without breaking, and arrows, strong and straight, from the sturdy\noak.\n\nBut most of all, Iagoo won the children's hearts with his stories. Where\ndid the robin get his red breast? How did fire find its way into the\nwood, so that an Indian can get it out again by rubbing two sticks\ntogether? Why was Coyote, the prairie wolf, so much cleverer than the\nother animals; and why was he always looking behind him when he ran? It\nwas old Iagoo who could tell you where and why.\n\n[Illustration: 0000]\n\nNow, winter was the time for story-telling. When the snow lay deep on\nthe ground, the North. Wind came howling from his home in the Land of\nIce, and the cold moon shone from the frosty sky, it was then that the\nIndians gathered in the wigwam. It was then that Iagoo sat by the fire\nof blazing logs, and the little boys and girls gathered around him.\n\n\"Whoo, whoo!\" wailed the North Wind. The sparks leapt up, and Iagoo laid\nanother log on the fire. \"Whoo, whoo!\" What a mischievous old fellow\nwas this North Wind! One could almost see him--his flowing hair all hung\nwith icicles. If the wigwam were not so strong he would blow it down,\nand if the fire were not so bright he would put it out. But the wigwam\nwas made on purpose, for just such a time as this; and the forest nearby\nhad logs to last forever. So the North Wind could only gnash his teeth,\nand say, \"Whoo, whoo!\"\n\nOne little girl, more timid than the rest, would draw nearer and put her\nhand on the old man's arm. \"O, Iagoo,\" she said, \"Just listen! Do you\nthink he can hurt us?\"\n\n\"Have no fear,\" answered Iagoo. \"The North Wind can do no harm to anyone\nwho is brave and cheerful. He blusters, and makes a lot of noise; but\nat heart he is really a big coward, and the fire will soon frighten him\naway. Suppose I tell you a story about it.\"\n\nAnd the story Iagoo told we shall now tell to you, the story of how\nShin-ge-bis fooled the North Wind.\n\n[Illustration: 0012]\n\n[Illustration: 0013]\n\n[Illustration: 0014]\n\n\n\n\nShin-ge-bis fools the North Wind\n\n[Illustration: 9014]\n\nONG, long ago, in the time when only a few people lived upon the earth,\nthere dwelt in the North a tribe of fishermen. Now, the best fish were\nto be found in the summer season, far up in the frozen places where no\none could live in the winter at all. For the King of this Land of Ice\nwas a fierce old man called Ka-bib-on-okka by the Indians--meaning in our\nlanguage, the North Wind.\n\nThough the Land of Ice stretched across the top of the world for\nthousands and thousands of miles, Ka-bib-on-okka was not satisfied. If\nhe could have had his way there would have been no grass or green trees\nanywhere; all the world would have been white from one year's end to\nanother, all the rivers frozen tight, and all the country covered with\nsnow and ice. .\n\nLuckily there was a limit to his power. Strong and fierce as he was, he\nwas no match at all for Sha-won-dasee, the South Wind, whose home was\nin the pleasant land of the sun-flower. Where Sha-won-dasee dwelt it was\nalways summer. When he breathed upon the land, violets appeared in the\nwoods, the wild rose bloomed on the yellow prairie, and the cooing dove\ncalled musically to his mate. It was he who caused the melons to grow,\nand the purple grapes; it was he whose warm breath ripened the corn in\nthe fields, clothed the forests in green, and made the earth all glad\nand beautiful. Then, as the summer days grew shorter in the North,\nSha-won-dasee would climb to the top of a hill, fill his great pipe, and\nsit there--dreaming and smoking. Hour after hour he\n\n[Illustration: 0000]\n\nsat and smoked; and the smoke, rising in the form of a vapor, filled the\nair with a soft haze until the hills and lakes seemed like the hills\nand lakes of dreamland. Not a breath of wind, not a cloud in the sky; a\ngreat peace and stillness over all. Nowhere else in the world was there\nanything so wonderful. It was Indian Summer.\n\nNow it was that the fishermen who set their nets in the North worked\nhard and fast, knowing the time was at hand when the South Wind would\nfall asleep, and fierce old Ka-bib-on-okka would swoop down upon them\nand drive them away. Sure enough! One morning a thin film of ice covered\nthe water where they set their nets; a heavy frost sparkled in the sun\non the bark roof of their huts.\n\nThat was sufficient warning. The ice grew thicker, the snow fell in\nbig, feathery flakes. Coyote, the prairie wolf, trotted by in his shaggy\nwhite winter coat. Already they could hear a muttering and a moaning in\nthe distance.\n\n\"Ka-bib-on-okka is coming!\" cried the fishermen. \"Ka-bib-on-okka will\nsoon be here. It is time for us to go.\"\n\nBut Shin-ge-bis, the diver, only laughed.\n\nShin-ge-bis was always laughing. He laughed when he caught a big fish,\nand he laughed when he caught none at all. Nothing could dampen his\nspirits.\n\n\"The fishing is still good,\" he said to his comrades. \"I can cut a hole\nin the ice, and fish with a line instead of a net. What do _I_ care for\nold Ka-bib-on-okka?\"\n\nThey looked at him with amazement. It was true that Shin-ge-bis had\ncertain magic powers, and could change himself into a duck. They had\nseen him do it; and that is why he came to be called the \"diver.\" But\nhow would this enable him to brave the anger of the terrible North Wind?\n\n\"You had better come with us,\" they said. \"Ka-bib-onokka is much\nstronger than you. The biggest trees of the forest bend before his\nwrath. The swiftest river that runs\n\n[Illustration: 0000]\n\nfreezes at his touch. Unless you can turn yourself into a bear, or a\nfish, you will have no chance at all.\"\n\nBut Shin-ge-bis only laughed the louder.\n\n\"My fur coat lent me by Brother Beaver and my mittens borrowed from\nCousin Muskrat will protect me in the daytime,\" he said, \"and inside\nmy wigwam is a pile of big logs. Let Ka-bib-on-okka come in by my fire\nif he dares.\"\n\nSo the fishermen took their leave rather sadly; for the laughing\nShin-ge-bis was a favorite with them, and, the truth is, they never\nexpected to see him again.\n\nWhen they were gone, Shin-ge-bis set about his work in his own way.\nFirst of all he made sure that he had plenty of dry bark and twigs and\npine-needles, to make the fire blaze up when he returned to his wigwam\nin the evening. The snow by this time was pretty deep, but it froze\nso hard on top that the sun did not melt it, and he could walk on the\nsurface without sinking in at all. As for fish, he well knew how to\ncatch them through the holes he made in the ice; and at night he would\ngo tramping home, trailing a long string of them behind him, and singing\na song he had made up himself:\n\n     \"Ka-bib-on-okka, ancient man,\n\n          Come and scare me if you can.\n\n     Big and blustery though you be,\n\n          You are mortal just like me!\"\n\nIt was thus that Ka-bib-on-okka found him, plodding along late one\nafternoon across the snow.\n\n\"Whoo, whoo!\" cried the North Wind. \"What impudent, two-legged creature\nis this who dares to linger here long after the wild goose and the heron\nhave winged their way to the south? We shall see who is master in the\nLand of Ice. This very night I will force my way into his wigwam, put\nhis fire out, and scatter the-ashes all around. Whoo, whoo!\"\n\n[Illustration: 0000]\n\nNight came; Shin-ge-bis sat in his wigwam by the blazing fire. And such\na fire! Each backlog was so big it would last for a moon. That was the\nway the Indians, who had no clocks or watches, counted time; instead of\nweeks or months, they would say \"a moon\"--the length of time from one\nnew moon to another.\n\nShin-ge-bis had been cooking a fish, a fine, fresh fish caught that\nvery day. Broiled over the coals, it was a tender and savory dish; and\nShin-ge-bis smacked his lips, and rubbed his hands with pleasure. He had\ntramped many miles that day; so it was a pleasant thing to sit there by\nthe roaring fire and toast his shins. How foolish, he thought, his\ncomrades had been to leave a place where fish was so plentiful, so early\nin the winter.\n\n\"They think that Ka-bib-on-okka is a kind of magician,\" he was saying to\nhimself, \"and that no one can resist him. It's my own opinion that he's\na man, just like myself. It's true that I can't stand the cold as he\ndoes; but then, neither can he stand the heat as I do.\"\n\nThis thought amused him so that he began to laugh and sing:\n\n     \"Ka-bib-on-okka, frosty man,\n\n          Try to freeze me if you can.\n\n     Though you blow until you tire,\n\n          I am safe beside my fire!\"\n\nHe was in such a high good humor that he scarcely noticed a sudden\nuproar that began without. The snow came thick and fast; as it fell it\nwas caught up again like so much powder and blown against the wigwam,\nwhere it lay in huge drifts. But instead of making it colder inside, it\nwas really like a thick blanket that kept the air out.\n\nKa-bib-on-okka soon discovered his mistake, and it made him furious.\nDown the smoke-vent he shouted; and his voice\n\n[Illustration: 0000]\n\nwas so wild and terrible that it might have frightened an ordinary man.\nBut Shin-ge-bis only laughed. It was so quiet in that great, silent\ncountry that he rather enjoyed a little noise.\n\n[Illustration: 0019]\n\n\"Ho, ho!\" he shouted back. \"How are you, Ka-bib-onokka? If you are not\ncareful you will burst your cheeks.\"\n\nThen the wigwam shook with the force of the blast, and the curtain of\nbuffalo hide that formed the doorway flapped and rattled, and rattled\nand flapped.\n\n\"Come on in, Ka-bib-on-okka!\" called Shin-ge-bis merrily. \"Come on in\nand warm yourself. It must be bitter cold outside.\"\n\nAt these jeering words, Ka-bib-on-okka hurled himself against the\ncurtain, breaking one of the buckskin thongs; and made his way inside.\nOh, what an icy breath!--so icy that it filled the hot wigwam like a\nfog.\n\nShin-ge-bis pretended not to notice. Still singing, he rose to his feet,\nand threw on another log. It was a fat log of pine, and it burned so\nhard and gave out so much heat that he had to sit a little distance\naway. From the corner of his eye he watched Ka-bib-on-okka; and what\nhe saw made him laugh again. The perspiration was pouring from his\nforehead; the snow and icicles in his flowing hair quickly disappeared.\nJust as a snowman made by children melts in the warm sun of March, so\nthe fierce old North Wind began to thaw! There could be no doubt of\nit; Ka-bib-on-okka, the terrible, was melting! His nose and ears became\nsmaller, his body began to shrink. If he remained where he was much\nlonger, the King of the Land of Ice would be nothing better than a\npuddle.\n\n\"Come on up to the fire,\" said Shin-ge-bis cruelly. \"You must be chilled\nto the bone. Come up closer, and warm your hands and feet.\"\n\n[Illustration: 0000]\n\nBut the North Wind had fled, even faster than he came, through the\ndoorway.\n\nOnce outside, the cold air revived him, and all his anger returned.\nAs he had not been able to freeze Shin-ge-bis, he spent his rage on\neverything in his path. Under his tread the snow took on a crust;\nthe brittle branches of the trees snapped as he blew and snorted; the\nprowling fox hurried to his hole; and the wandering coyote sought the\nfirst shelter at hand.\n\nOnce more he made his way to the wigwam of Shin-ge-bis, and shouted down\nthe flue. \"Come out,\" he called. \"Come out, if you dare, and wrestle\nwith me here in the snow. We'll soon see who's master then!\"\n\nShin-ge-bis thought it over. \"The fire must have weakened him,\" he\nsaid to himself. \"And my own body is warm. I believe I can overpower\nhim. Then he will not annoy me any more, and I can stay here as long as\nI please.\"\n\nOut of the wigwam he rushed, and Ka-bib-on-okka came to meet him. Then\na great struggle took place. Over and over on the hard snow they rolled,\nlocked in one another's arms.\n\nAll night long they wrestled; and the foxes crept out of their holes,\nsitting at a safe distance in a circle, watching the wrestlers. The\neffort he put forth kept the blood warm in the body of Shin-ge-bis. He\ncould feel the North Wind growing weaker and weaker; his icy breath was\nno longer a blast, but only a feeble sigh.\n\nAt last, as the sun rose in the east, the wrestlers stood apart,\npanting. Ka-bib-on-okka was conquered. With a despairing wail, he turned\nand sped away. Far, far to the North he sped, even to the land of the\nWhite Rabbit; and as he went, the laughter of Shin-ge-bis rang out and\nfollowed him. Cheerfulness and courage can overcome even the North Wind.\n\n[Illustration: 0021]\n\n\n\n\nThe Little Boy and Girl in the Clouds\n\n[Illustration: 9021]\n\nAGOO, the Story-Teller, was seated one evening in his favorite corner,\ngazing into the embers of the log fire like one in a dream.\n\nAt such a time the children knew better than to interrupt him by\nasking questions or teasing him for a story. They knew that Iagoo\nwas turning over in his mind the strange things he had heard and the\nwonderful things he had seen; that the burning logs and red coals took\non curious shapes and made odd pictures that only he could understand,\nand that if they did not disturb him he would presently begin to speak.\n\nOn this particular evening, however, though they waited patiently and\ntalked to one another only in low whispers, Iagoo kept on sitting there\nas if he were made of stone. They began to fear that he had forgotten\nthem, and that bed-time would come without a story. So at last little\nMorning Glory, who was always asking questions, thought of one she had\nnever asked before.\n\n\"Iagoo!\" she said; and then she stopped, fearing to offend him.\n\nAt the sound of her voice the old man roused himself, as if his mind had\nbeen away on a long journey into the past.\n\n\"What is it, Morning Glory?\"\n\n\"Iagoo--can you tell me---were the mountains always here?\"\n\nThe old man looked at her gravely. No matter how hard the question was,\nor how unexpected, Iagoo was always glad to answer. He never said: \"I'm\ntoo busy, don't bother me,\" or, \"Wait till some other time.\" So when\nMorning Glory\n\n[Illustration: 0000]\n\nasked him this very peculiar question, he nodded his wise old head,\nsaying:\n\n\"Do you know, I've often asked myself that very thing: Were the\nmountains always here?\"\n\nHe paused, and looked once more into the fire, as if the answer was to\nbe found there if he only looked long enough. At last he spoke again:\n\n\"Yes, I think it must be true that the mountains were always here--the\nmountains and the hills. They were made when the world was made--a long,\nlong time ago; and the story of how the world was made you have heard\nbefore. But there is one high hill that was not always here--a hill that\ngrew like magic, all of a sudden. Did I ever tell you the story of the\nBig Rock--how it rose and rose, and carried the little boy and girl up\namong the clouds?\"\n\n\"No, no!\" shouted the children in a chorus. \"You never told us that one.\nTell it to us now.\"\n\nAnd this is the story of the magical Big Rock, as old Iagoo heard it\nfrom his grandfather, who heard it from his great-grandfather, who was\nalmost old enough to have been there himself when it all happened:\n\nIn the days when all animals and men lived on friendly terms, when\nCoyote, the prairie wolf, was not a bad sort of fellow when you came to\nknow him, and even the Mountain Lion would growl pleasantly and pass\nyou the time of day--there lived in a beautiful valley a little boy and\ngirl.\n\n[Illustration: 0023]\n\nThis valley was a lovely place to live in; never was such a playground\nanywhere on earth. It was like a great green carpet stretching for\nmiles and miles, and when the wind blew upon the long grass it was like\nlooking at the waves of the sea. Flowers of all colors bloomed in the\nbeautiful valley, berries grew thick on the bushes, and birds filled the\nsummer air with their songs.\n\nBest of all, there was nothing whatever to fear. The\n\nNever was such a play-ground anywhere.\n\n[Illustration: 0000]\n\nchildren could wander at will--watching the gay butterflies, making\nfriends with the squirrels and rabbits, or following the flight of the\nbee to some tree where his honey is stored.\n\nAs for the wild animals, it was all very different from what it is\nto-day, when they keep the poor things in cages, or coop them up in a\nlittle patch of ground behind a high fence. In the beautiful valley the\nanimals ran free and happily, as they were meant to do. The Bear was a\nbig, lazy, good-natured fellow, who lived on berries and wild honey in\nthe summer, and in winter crept into his cavern in the rocks and slept\nthere till the spring. The deer were not only gentle, but tame as sheep,\nand often came to crop the tender grass that grew where the two children\nwere accustomed to play.\n\nThey loved all the animals, and the animals loved them; but perhaps\ntheir special favorites were Jack Rabbit and Antelope. Jack Rabbit had\nlong legs, and long ears--almost as long as a mule's, and no animal of\nhis size could jump so high. But of course he could not jump as high\nas Antelope--the name of a beautiful little deer, with short horns and\nslender legs, who could run like the wind.\n\nAnother thing that made the happy valley such a pleasant place to live\nin was the river that flowed through it. All the animals came from miles\naround to drink from its clear, cool waters, and to bathe in it on a hot\nsummer day. One shallow pool seemed made especially for the little boy\nand girl. Their friend, the Beaver, with his flat tail like an oar and\nhis feet webbed like a duck's, had taught them how to swim almost as\nsoon as they had learned to walk; and to splash around in the pool on a\nwarm afternoon was among their greatest pleasures.\n\nOne day in mid-summer the water was so pleasant that they remained in\nthe pool much longer than usual, so that when at last they came out they\nwere quite tired. And as they were\n\n[Illustration: 0000]\n\na little chilled besides, they looked around for a good place where they\ncould get dry and warm.\n\n\"Let's climb up on that big, flat rock, with the moss on it,\" said the\nlittle boy. \"We've never done it before. It would be lots of fun.\"\n\nSo he clambered up the side of the rock, which was only a few feet high,\nand drew his sister up after him. Then they lay down to rest, and pretty\nsoon, without intending it at all, they were fast asleep.\n\nNobody knows how it happened that exactly at this time the rock began\nto rise and grow. But it did happen, because there it is today, high\nand bare and steep, higher than the other hills in the valley. As the\nchildren slept, it rose and rose, inch by inch, foot by foot; by the\nnext day it was taller than the tallest trees.\n\nMeanwhile their father and mother were searching for them everywhere,\nbut all in vain; nor was any trace of them to be found. No one had seen\nthem climb up on the rock, and everyone concerned was too much excited\nto notice what had really happened to it. The parents wandered far and\nwide saying: \"Antelope, have you seen our little boy and girl? Jack\nRabbit, you must have seen our little boy and girl.\" But none of the\nanimals had seen them.\n\nAt last they met Coyote, the cleverest of them all, trotting along the\nvalley with his nose in the air; so they put the same question to him.\n\n\"No,\" said Coyote. \"I have not seen them for a long time. But my nose\nwas given me to smell with, and my brains were given me to think with.\nSo who can tell but that I may help you?\"\n\nHe trotted by their side, along the banks of the river, and pretty soon\nthey came to the pool where the children had been in swimming. Coyote\nsniffed and sniffed. He ran around and around, with his nose to the\nground; then he ran right up to\n\n[Illustration: 0000]\n\nthe rock, put his forepaws up as high as he could reach, and sniffed\nagain.\n\n\"H-m-m!\" he grunted. \"I cannot fly like the Eagle, and I cannot swim\nlike the Beaver. But neither am I stupid like the Bear, nor ignorant\nlike the Jack Rabbit. My nose has never deceived me yet; your little boy\nand girl must be up there on that rock.\"\n\n\"But how could they get there?\" asked the astonished parents. For the\nrock was now so high that the top was lost to sight in the clouds.\n\n\"That is not the question,\" said Coyote severely, unwilling to admit\nthere was anything he did not know. \"That is not the question at all.\nAnybody could ask that. The only question worth asking is: How are we to\nget them down again?\"\n\nSo they called all the animals together, to talk it over and see what\ncould be done. Then the Bear said: \"If I could only put my arms around\nthe rock I could climb it. But it is much too big for that.\" And the Fox\nsaid: \"If it were only a deep hole, instead of a high hill, I would be\nable to help you.\" And the Beaver said: \"If it were just a place out in\nthe water I could swim to, I'd show you very quickly.\"\n\nBut as this kind of talk did not take them very far, they decided to try\nwhat jumping would do. There seemed to be no other way; and as each one\nwas anxious to do his part, the smallest one was permitted to make the\nfirst attempt. So the Mouse made a funny little hop, about as high as\nyour hand. The Squirrel went a little higher. Jack Rabbit made the\nhighest jump of his life, and almost broke his back, to no purpose.\nAntelope gave a great bound in the air, but managed to light on his feet\nagain without doing himself any harm. Finally, the Mountain Lion went a\nlong way off, to get a good start, ran toward the rock with great leaps,\nsprang straight up--and\n\n[Illustration: 0000]\n\nfell and rolled over on his back. He had made a higher jump than any of\nthem; but it was not nearly high enough.\n\nNo one knew what to do next. It seemed as if the little boy and girl\nmust be left sleeping on forever, up among the clouds. Suddenly they\nheard a tiny voice saying:\n\n\"Perhaps if you let _me_ try, I might _climb_ up the rock.\" They all\nlooked around in surprise, wondering who it was that spoke; and at first\nthey could see nobody, and thought that Coyote must be playing a trick\non them. But Coyote was as much surprised as anyone.\n\n\"Wait a minute. I'm coming as fast as I can,\" said the tiny voice again.\nThen a Measuring Worm crawled out of the grass--a funny little worm that\nmade its way along by hunching up its back and drawing itself ahead an\ninch at a time.\n\n\"Ho, ho!\" said the Mountain Lion, from deep down in his throat. He\nalways spoke that way when his dignity was offended. \"Ho, ho! Did\nyou ever hear of such impudence? If I, a lion, have failed, how can a\nmiserable little crawling worm like you hope to succeed; just tell me\nthat!\"\n\n\"It's downright silly,\" said Jack Rabbit. \"That's what it is. I never\nheard of such conceit.\"\n\nHowever, after much talk, they agreed at last that it could do no harm\nto let him try. So the Measuring Worm made his way slowly to the rock,\nand began to climb. In a few minutes he was higher than Jack Rabbit\nhad jumped. Soon he was farther up than the lion had been able to leap:\nbefore long he had climbed out of sight.\n\nIt took the Measuring Worm a whole month, climbing day and night, to\nreach the top of the magic rock. When he got there he awakened the\nlittle boy and girl, who were much surprised to see where they were,\nand guided them safely down along a path no one else knew anything\nabout. Thus, by patience and perseverance, the weak little creature was\nable to\n\n[Illustration: 0000]\n\ndo something that the Bear, for all his size, and the Lion, for all his\nstrength, could never have done at all. That was a long time ago; today\nthere are no more lions or bears in the valley, and no one ever thinks\nof them. But everybody thinks of the Measuring Worm, because the\nBig Rock is still there, and the Indians have named it after him.\nTu-tok-a-nu-la, they call it, a big name indeed for a little fellow, yet\nby no means too big when you come to think of the big, brave thing he\ndid.\n\n[Illustration: 0028]\n\n[Illustration: 0029]\n\n\n\n\nThe Child of the Evening Star\n\n[Illustration: 9029]\n\nNCE upon a time, on the shores of the great lake, Gitchee Gumee, there\nlived a hunter who had ten beautiful young daughters. Their hair was\ndark and glossy as the wings of the blackbird, and when they walked or\nran it was with the grace and freedom of the deer in the forest.\n\nThus it was that many suitors came to court them--brave and handsome\nyoung men, straight as arrows, fleet of foot, who could travel from\nsun to sun without fatigue. They were sons of the prairie, wonderful\nhorsemen who would ride at breakneck speed without saddle or stirrup.\nThey could catch a wild horse with a noose, tame him in a magical way\nby breathing into his nostrils, then mount him and gallop off as if\nhe always had been ridden. There were those also who came from afar in\ncanoes, across the waters of the Great Lake, canoes which shot swiftly\nalong, urged by the strong, silent sweep of the paddle.\n\nAll of them brought presents with which they hoped to gain the father's\nfavor. Feathers from the wings of the eagle who soars high up near the\nsun; furs of fox and beaver and the thick, curly hair of the bison;\nbeads of many colors, and wampum, the shells which the Indians used\nfor money; the quills of the porcupine and the claws of the grizzly\nbear; deerskin dressed to such a softness that it crumpled up in the\nhands--these and many other things they brought.\n\nOne by one, the daughters were wooed and married, until nine of them had\nchosen husbands. One by one, other tents were reared, so that instead\nof the single family lodge on the shores of the lake there were tents\nenough to form a little village. For the country was a rich one, and\nthere was game and fish enough for all.\n\nThere remained the youngest daughter, Oweenee--the fairest of them all.\nGentle as she was beautiful, none was so kind of heart. Unlike her proud\nand talkative elder sisters, Oweenee was shy and modest, and spoke but\nlittle. She loved to wander alone in the woods, with no company but the\nbirds and squirrels and her own thoughts. What these thoughts were we\ncan only guess; from her dreamy eyes and sweet expression, one could\nbut suppose that nothing selfish or mean or hateful ever came into her\nmind. Yet Oweenee, modest though she was, had a spirit of her own. More\nthan one suitor had found this out. More than one conceited young man,\nconfident that he could win her, went away crestfallen when Oweenee\nbegan to laugh at him.\n\n[Illustration: 0031]\n\nThe truth is, Oweenee seemed hard to please. Suitor after suitor\ncame--handsome, tall young men, the handsomest and the bravest in all\nthe country round. Yet this fawn-eyed maiden would have none of them.\nOne was too tall, another too short; one too thin, another too fat. At\nleast, that was the excuse she gave for sending them away. Her proud\nsisters had little patience with her. It seemed to be questioning\ntheir own taste; for Oweenee, had she said the word, might have gained a\nhusband more attractive than any of theirs. Yet no one was good enough.\nThey could not understand her; so they ended by despising her as a silly\nand unreasonable girl.\n\nHer father, too, who loved her dearly and wished her to be happy, was\nmuch puzzled. \"Tell me, my daughter,\" he said to her one day, \"Is it\nyour wish never to marry? The handsomest young men in the land have\nsought you in marriage, and you have sent them all away--often with a\npoor excuse. Why is it?\"\n\nOweenee looked at him with her large, dark eyes.\n\n[Illustration: 0000]\n\n\"Father,\" she said at last. \"It is not that I am wilful. But it seems\nsomehow as if I had the power to look into the hearts of men. It is the\nheart of a man, and not his face, that really matters; and I have not\nyet found one youth who in this sense is really beautiful.\"\n\nSoon after, a strange thing happened. There came into the little village\nan Indian named Osseo, many years older than Oweenee. He was poor and\nugly, too. Yet Oweenee married him.\n\nHow the tongues of her nine proud sisters did wag! Had the spoiled\nlittle thing lost her mind? they asked. Oh, well! They always knew she\nwould come to a bad end; but it was pretty hard on the family.\n\nOf course they could not know what Oweenee had seen at once--that Osseo\nhad a generous nature and a heart of gold; that beneath his outward\nugliness was the beauty of a noble mind, and the fire and passion of a\npoet. That is why Oweenee loved him; knowing, too, that he needed her\ncare, she loved him all the more.\n\nNow, though Oweenee did not suspect it, Osseo was really a beautiful\nyouth on whom an evil spell had been cast. He was in truth the son\nof the King of the Evening Star--that Evening Star which shines so\ngloriously in the western sky, just above the rim of the earth, as the\nsun is setting. Often on a clear evening it hung suspended in the\npurple twilight like some glittering jewel. So close it seemed, and so\nfriendly, that the little children would reach out their hands, thinking\nthat they might grasp it ere it was swallowed by the night, and keep it\nalways for their own. But the older ones would say: \"Surely it must be\na bead on the garments of the Great Spirit as he walks in the evening\nthrough the garden of the heavens.\"\n\nLittle did they know that the poor, despised Osseo had really descended\nfrom that star. And when he, too, stretched\n\n[Illustration: 0000]\n\nout his arms toward it, and murmured words they could not understand,\nthey all made sport of him.\n\nThere came a time when a great feast was prepared in a neighboring\nvillage, and all of Oweenee's kinsfolk were invited to attend. They set\nout on foot--the nine proud sisters, with their husbands, walking ahead,\nmuch pleased with themselves and their finery, and all chattering\nlike magpies. But Oweenee walked behind in silence, and with her walked\nOsseo.\n\nThe sun had set; in the purple twilight, over the edge of the earth,\nsparkled the Evening Star. Osseo, pausing, stretched out his hands\ntoward it, as if imploring pity; but when the others saw him in this\nattitude they all made merry, laughing and joking and making unkind\nremarks.\n\n\"Instead of looking up in the sky,\" said one of the sisters, \"he had\nbetter be looking on the ground. Else he may stumble and break his\nneck.\" Then calling back to him, she cried: \"Look out! Here's a big log.\nDo you think you can manage to climb over it?\"\n\nOsseo made no answer; but when he came to the log he paused again. It\nwas the trunk of a huge oak-tree blown down by the wind. There it had\nlain for years, just as it fell; and the leaves of many summers\nlay thick upon it. There was one thing, though, the sisters had not\nnoticed.. The tree-trunk was not a solid one, but hollow, and so big\naround that a man could walk inside it from one end to the other without\nstooping.\n\nBut Osseo did not pause because he was unable to climb over it. There\nwas something mysterious and magical in the appearance of the great\nhollow trunk; and he gazed at it a long time, as if he had seen it in a\ndream, and had been looking for it ever since.\n\n\"What is it, Osseo?\" asked Oweenee, touching him on the arm. \"Do you see\nsomething that I cannot see?\"\n\nBut Osseo only gave a shout that echoed through the\n\n[Illustration: 0000]\n\nforest, and leaped inside the log. Then as Oweenee, a little alarmed,\nstood there waiting, the figure of a man came out from the other end.\nCould this be Osseo? Yes, it was he--but how transformed! No\nlonger bent and ugly, no longer weak and ailing; but a beautiful\nyouth---vigorous and straight and tall. His enchantment was at an end.\n\nBut the evil spell had not been wholly lifted, after all. As Osseo\napproached he saw that a great change was taking place in his loved one.\nHer glossy black hair was turning white, deep wrinkles lined her\nface; she walked with a feeble step, leaning on a staff. Though he had\nregained his youth and beauty, she in turn had suddenly grown old.\n\n\"O, my dearest one!\" he cried. \"The Evening Star has mocked me in\nletting this misfortune come upon you. Better far had I remained as I\nwas; gladly would I have borne the insults and laughter of your people\nrather than you should be made to suffer.\"\n\n\"As long as you love me,\" answered Oweenee, \"I am perfectly content. If\nI had the choice to make, and only one of us could be young and fair, it\nis you that I would wish to be beautiful.\"\n\nThen he took her in his arms and caressed her, vowing that he loved her\nmore than ever for her goodness of heart; and together they walked hand\nin hand, as lovers do.\n\nWhen the proud sisters saw what had happened they could scarcely believe\ntheir eyes. They looked enviously at Osseo, who was now far handsomer\nthan any one of their husbands, and much their superior in every other\nway. In his eyes was the wonderful light of the Evening Star, and when\nhe spoke all men turned to listen and admire him. But the hard-hearted\nsisters had no pity for Oweenee. Indeed, it rather pleased them to see\nthat she could no longer dim their beauty, and to realize that people\nwould no longer be singing her praises in their jealous ears.\n\n[Illustration: 0000]\n\nThe feast was spread, and all made merry but Osseo. He sat like one in\na dream, neither eating nor drinking. From time to time he would press\nOweenee's hand, and speak a word of comfort in her ear. But for the\nmost part he sat there, gazing through the door of the tent at the\nstar-besprinkled sky.\n\nSoon a silence fell on all the company. From out of the night, from the\ndark, mysterious forest, came the sound of music--a low, sweet music\nthat was like, yet unlike, the song sung by the thrush in summer\ntwilight. It was magical music such as none had ever heard, coming, as\nit seemed, from a great distance, and rising and falling on the quiet\nsummer evening. All those at the feast wondered as they listened. And\nwell they might! For what to them was only music, was to Osseo a voice\nthat he understood, a voice from the sky itself, the voice of the\nEvening Star. These were the words that he heard:\n\n\"Suffer no more, my son; for the evil spell is broken, and hereafter no\nmagician shall work you harm. Suffer no more; for the time has come when\nyou shall leave the earth and dwell here with me in the heavens. Before\nyou is a dish on which my light has fallen, blessing it and giving it a\nmagic virtue. Eat of this dish, Osseo, and all will be well.\"\n\nSo Osseo tasted the food before him, and behold! The tent began to\ntremble, and rose slowly into the air; up, up above the tree-tops--up,\nup toward the stars. As it rose, the things within it were wondrously\nchanged. The kettles of clay became bowls of silver, the wooden dishes\nwere scarlet shells, while the bark of the roof and the poles supporting\nit were transformed into some glittering substance that sparkled in\nthe rays of the stars. Higher and higher it rose. Then the nine proud\nsisters and their husbands were all changed into birds. The men became\nrobins, thrushes and woodpeckers. The sisters were changed into various\nbirds with bright plumage;\n\n[Illustration: 0000]\n\nthe four who had chattered most, whose tongues were always wagging,\nnow appeared in the feathers of the magpie and bluejay.\n\nOsseo sat gazing at Oweenee. Would she, too, change into a bird, and be\nlost to him? The very thought of it made him bow his head with grief;\nthen, as he looked at her once more, he saw her beauty suddenly\nrestored, while the color of her garments was the color only to be found\nwhere the dyes of the rainbow are made.\n\nAgain the tent swayed and trembled as the currents of the air bore it\nhigher and higher, into and above the clouds; up, up, up--till at last\nit settled gently on the land of the Evening Star.\n\nOsseo and Oweenee caught all the birds, and put them in a great silver\ncage, where they seemed quite content in each other's company. Scarcely\nwas this done when Osseo's father, the King of the Evening Star, came to\ngreet them. He was attired in a flowing robe, spun from star-dust, and\nhis long white hair hung like a cloud upon his shoulders.\n\n\"Welcome,\" he said, \"my dear children. Welcome to the kingdom in the\nsky that has always awaited you. The trials you have passed through\nhave been bitter; but you have borne them bravely, and now you will be\nrewarded for all your courage and devotion. Here you will live happily;\nyet of one thing you must beware.\"\n\nHe pointed to a little star in the distance--a little, winking star,\nhidden from time to time by a cloud of vapor.\n\n\"On that star,\" he continued, \"lives a magician named Wabeno. He has\nthe power to dart his rays, like so many arrows, at those he wishes to\ninjure. He has always been my enemy; it was he who changed Osseo into\nan old man and cast him down upon the earth. Have a care that his light\ndoes not fall upon you. Luckily, his power for evil has been greatly\nweakened; for the friendly clouds have come to my assistance,\n\n[Illustration: 0000]\n\nand form a screen of vapor through which his arrows cannot penetrate.\"\n\nThe happy pair fell upon their knees, and kissed his hands in gratitude.\n\n\"But these birds,\" said Osseo, rising and pointing to the cage. \"Is this\nalso the work of Wabeno, the magician?\"\n\n\"No,\" answered the King of the Evening Star. \"It was my own power, the\npower of love, that caused your tent to rise and bear you hither. It was\nlikewise by my power that the envious sisters and their husbands were\ntransformed into birds. Because they hated you and mocked you, and were\ncruel and scornful to the weak and the old, I have done this thing. It\nis not so great a punishment as they deserve. Here in the silver cage\nthey will be happy enough, proud of their handsome plumage, strutting\nand twittering to their hearts' content. Hang the cage there, at the\ndoorway of my dwelling. They shall be well cared for.\"\n\nThus it was that Osseo and Oweenee came to live in the kingdom of the\nEvening Star; and, as the years passed by, the little winking star where\nWabeno, the magician, lived grew pale and paler and dim and dimmer, till\nit quite lost its power to harm. Meanwhile a little son had come to make\ntheir happiness more perfect, a charming boy with the dark, dreamy eyes\nof his mother and the strength and courage of Osseo.\n\nIt was a wonderful place for a little boy to live in--close to the stars\nand the moon, with the sky so near that it seemed a kind of curtain for\nhis bed, and all the glory of the heavens spread out before him. But\nsometimes he was lonely, and wondered what the Earth was like--the Earth\nhis father and mother had come from. He could see it far, far below--\nso far that it looked no bigger than an orange; and sometimes he would\nstretch out his hands toward it, just as the little children on earth\nstretch out their hands for the moon.\n\n[Illustration: 0000]\n\nHis father had made him a bow, with little arrows, and this was a great\ndelight to him. But still he was lonely, and wondered what the little\nboys and girls on earth were doing, and whether they would be nice to\nplay with. The Earth must be a pretty place, he thought, with so many\npeople living on it. His mother had told him strange stories of that\nfar-away land, with its lovely lakes and rivers, its great, green\nforests where the deer and the squirrel lived, and the yellow, rolling\nprairies swarming with buffalo.\n\nThese birds, too, in the great silver cage had come from the Earth, he\nwas told; and there were thousands and thousands just like them, as well\nas others even more beautiful that he had never seen at all. Swans\nwith long, curved necks, that floated gracefully on the waters;\nwhip-poor-wills that called at night from the woods; the robin\nredbreast, the dove and the swallow. What wonderful birds they must be!\n\nSometimes he would sit near the cage, trying to understand the language\nof the feathered creatures inside. One day a strange idea came into his\nhead. He would open the door of the cage and let them out. Then they\nwould fly back to Earth, and perhaps they would take him with them. When\nhis father and mother missed him they would be sure to follow him to the\nEarth, and then--\n\nHe could not quite see just how it would all end. But he found himself\nquite close to the cage, and the first thing he knew he had opened the\ndoor and let out all the birds. Round and round they flew; and now he\nwas half sorry, and a little afraid as well. If the birds flew back to\nEarth, and left him there, what would his grandfather say?\n\n\"Come back, come back!\" he called.\n\nBut the birds only flew around him in circles, and paid no attention to\nhim. At any moment they might be winging their way to the Earth.\n\n[Illustration: 0000]\n\n\"Come back, I tell you!\" he cried, stamping his foot and waving his\nlittle bow. \"Come back, I say, or I'll shoot you.\"\n\nThen, as they would not obey him, he fitted an arrow to his bow and let\nit fly. So well did he aim that the arrow sped through the plumage of\na bird, and the feathers fell all around. The bird itself, a little\nstunned but not much hurt, fell down; and a tiny trickle of blood\nstained the ground where it lay. But it was no longer a bird, with an\narrow in its wing; instead, there stood in its place a beautiful young\nwoman.\n\nNow, no one who lives in the stars is ever permitted to shed blood,\nwhether it be of man, beast or bird. So when the few drops fell upon\nthe Evening Star, everything was changed. The boy suddenly found himself\nsinking slowly downward, held up by invisible hands, yet ever sinking\ncloser and closer to the Earth. Soon he could see its green hills and\nthe swans floating on the water, till at last he rested on a grassy\nisland in a great lake. Lying there, and looking up at the sky, he could\nsee the tent descending, too. Down it softly drifted, till it in turn\nsank upon the island; and in it were his father and mother, Osseo and\nOweenee--returned to earth, to live once more among men and women and\nteach them how to live. For they had learned many things in their life\nupon the Evening Star; and the children of Earth would be better for the\nknowledge.\n\nAs they stood there, hand in hand, all the enchanted birds came\nfluttering after, falling and fluttering through the air. Then as each\none touched the Earth, it was no longer a bird they saw, but a human\nbeing. A human being, yet not quite as before; for now they were only\ndwarfs, Little People, or Pygmies; Puk-Wudjies, as the Indians called\nthem. Happy Little People they became, seen only by a few. Fishermen,\nthey say, would sometimes get a glimpse of them--dancing in the light\nof the Evening Star, of a summer night, on the sandy, level beach of the\nGreat Lake.\n\n[Illustration: 0040]\n\n\n\n\nThe Boy who Snared the Sun\n\n[Illustration: 9040]\n\nDEEP, crusted snow covered the earth, and sparkled in the light of a\nwintry moon. The wind had died away; it was very cold and still. Not a\nsound came from the forest; the only noise that broke the perfect quiet\nof the night was the cracking of the ice on the Big-sea-water, Gitche\nGumee, which was now frozen solid.\n\nBut inside old Iagoo's teepee it was warm and cheerful. The teepee, as\nthe Indians call a tent, was covered with the thick, tough skin of the\nbuffalo; the winter coat of Muk-wa, the bear, had now become a pleasant\nsoft rug for Iagoo's two young visitors, Morning Glory and her little\nbrother, Eagle Feather. Squatting at their ease on the warm fur, they\nwaited for the old man to speak.\n\nSuddenly a white-footed mouse crept from his nest in a corner, and,\nadvancing close to the children, sat up on his hind-legs, like a dog\nthat begs for a biscuit. Eagle Feather raised his hand in a threatening\nway, but Morning Glory caught him by the arm.\n\n\"No, no!\" she said. \"You must not harm him. See how friendly he is, and\nnot a bit afraid. There is game enough in the forest for a brave boy's\nbow and arrow. Why should he spend his strength on a weak little mouse?\"\n\nEagle Feather, pleased with anything that seemed like praise of his\nstrength, let his hand fall.\n\n\"Your words are true words, Morning Glory,\" he answered. \"Against\nAhmeek, the beaver, or Wau-be-se, the wild swan, it is better that I\nshould measure my hunter's skill.\"\n\n[Illustration: 0000]\n\nAt this, Iagoo, turning around, broke his long silence. \"There was\na time,\" he said, mysteriously, \"when a thousand boys such as Eagle\nFeather would have been no match at all for that mouse as he used to\nbe.\"\n\n\"When was that?\" asked Eagle Feather, looking uneasily at his sister.\n\n\"In the days of the great Dormouse,\" answered Iagoo. \"In the days, long\nago, when there were many more animals than men on the earth, and the\nbiggest of all the beasts was the Dormouse. Then something strange\nhappened--something that never happened before or since. Shall I tell\nyou about it?\"\n\n\"O, please do!\" begged Morning Glory.\n\n\"The story I am going to tell you,\" began Iagoo, \"is not so much a story\nabout the Dormouse as it is a story about a little boy and his sister.\nYet had it not been for the Dormouse, I would not be here to tell\nabout it, and you would not be here to listen.\n\n\"To begin with, you must understand that the world in those days was a\ndifferent sort of place from what it is now.\n\nO yes, a different sort of place. People did not eat the flesh of\nanimals. They lived on berries, and roots, and wild vegetables. The\nGreat Spirit, who made all things on land, and in the sky and water, had\nnot yet given men Mon-da-min, the Indian corn. There was no fire to give\nthem heat, or to cook with. In all the world there was just one small\nfire, watched by two old witches who let nobody come near it; and until\nCoyote, the prairie wolf, came along and stole some of this fire, the\nfood that people could manage to get was eaten raw, the way it grew.\"\n\n\"They must have been pretty hungry,\" said Morning Glory..\n\n\"O, yes, they were hungry,\" agreed Iagoo. \"But that was not all. There\nwere so many animals, and so few men,\n\n[Illustration: 0000]\n\nthat the animals ruled the earth in their own way. The biggest of them\nall was Bosh-kwa-dosh, the Mastodon. He was higher than the highest\ntrees, and he had an enormous appetite. But he did not stay long on\nearth, or there would not have been food enough even for the other\nanimals.\"\n\n[Illustration: 0043]\n\n\"I thought you said the Dormouse was the biggest,\" interrupted Eagle\nFeather.\n\nIagoo looked at him severely.\n\n\"At the time I speak of,\" he continued, \"Bosh-kwa-dosh, the Mastodon,\nhad just gone away. He had not gone a bit too soon, either; for, by this\ntime, the only people left on the whole earth were a young girl and her\nlittle brother.\"\n\n\"Like Eagle Feather and me?\" asked Morning Glory. \"The girl was much\nlike you,\" said Iagoo, patiently. \"But the boy was a dwarf, who never\ngrew to be more than three feet high. Being so much stronger and larger\nthan her brother, she gathered all the food for both, and cared for him\nin every way. Sometimes she would take him along with her, when she went\nto look for berries and roots. 'He's such a very little boy,' she said\nto herself, 'that if I leave him all alone, some big bird may swoop\ndown, and carry him off to its nest.'\n\n\"She did not know what a strange boy he was, and how much mischief he\ncould do when he set his mind upon it. One day she said to him: 'Look,\nlittle brother! I have made you a bow and some arrows. It is time you\nlearned to take care of yourself; so when I am gone, practice\nshooting, for this is a thing you must know how to do.'\n\n\"Winter was coming, and to keep himself from freezing the boy had\nnothing better than a light garment woven by his sister from the\nwild grasses. How could he get a warm coat? As he asked himself that\nquestion, a flock of snow birds flew down, near by, and began pecking at\nthe fallen logs, to get the worms. 'Ha!' said he. 'Their feathers\n\n[Illustration: 0000]\n\nwould make me a fine coat.' Bending his bow, he let an arrow fly; but he\nhad not yet learned how to shoot straight. It went wide of the mark. He\nshot a second, and a third; then the birds took fright, and flew away.\n\n\"Each day he tried again--shooting at a tree when there was nothing\nbetter to aim at. At last he killed a snow bird, then another and\nanother. When he had shot ten birds, he had enough. 'See, sister,' he\nsaid, 'I shall not freeze. Now you can make me a coat from the skins of\nthese little birds.'\n\n\"So his sister sewed the skins together, and made him the coat, the\nfirst warm winter coat he had ever had. It was fine to look at, and the\nfeathers kept out the cold. Eh-yah! he was proud of it! With his bow\nand arrows, he strutted up and down, like a little turkey cock. 'Is it\ntrue?' he asked, 'that you and I are the only persons living on earth?\nPerhaps if I look around, I may find someone else. It will do no harm\nto try.'\n\n\"His sister feared he would come to some harm; but he had made up his\nmind to see the world for himself, and off he went. But his legs were\nshort, he was not used to walking far, and he soon grew tired. When\nhe came to a bare place, on the edge of a hill, where the sun had melted\nthe snow, he lay down, and was soon fast asleep.\n\n\"As he slept, the sun played him a trick. It was a mild winter's day.\nThe bird skins of which the coat was made were still fresh and tender,\nand under the full glare of the sun they began to shrivel and shrink.\n'Eh-yah! What's wrong?' he muttered in his sleep, feeling the coat\nbecome tighter and tighter. Then he woke, stretched out his arms, and\nsaw what had happened.\n\n\"The sun was nearly sinking now. The boy stood up and faced it, and\nshook his small fist. 'See what you have done!' he cried, with a stamp\nof his foot. 'You have spoiled my new birdskin coat. Never mind! You\nthink yourself\n\n[Illustration: 0000]\n\nbeyond my reach, up there; but I'll be revenged on you. Just wait and\nsee!'\"\n\n\"But how could he reach the sun?\" asked Morning Glory, her eyes growing\nrounder and rounder.\n\n\"That is what his sister asked, when he told her about it,\" said Iagoo.\n\"And what do you think he did? First, he did nothing at all but stretch\nhimself out on the ground, where he lay for ten days without eating or\nmoving. Then he turned over on the other side, and lay there for ten\ndays more. At last he rose to his feet. 'I have made up my mind,' he\nsaid. 'Sister, I have a plan to catch the sun in a noose. Find me some\nkind of a cord from which I can make a snare.' \"She got some tough\ngrass, and twisted it into a rope. 'That will not do,' he said. 'You\nmust find something stronger.' He no longer talked like a little boy,\nbut like one who was to be obeyed. Then his sister thought of her hair.\nShe cut enough from her head to make a cord, and when she had plaited it\nhe was much pleased, and said it would do. He took it from her, and drew\nit between his lips, and as he did this it turned into a kind of metal,\nand grew much stronger and longer, till he had so much that he wound it\naround his body.\n\n\"In the middle of the night he made his way to the hill, and there he\nfixed a noose at the place where the sun would rise. He had to wait a\nlong time in the cold and darkness. But at last a faint light came into\nthe sky. As the sun rose it was caught fast in the noose, and there it\nstayed.\"\n\nIagoo stopped talking, and sat looking into the fire. One might have\nsupposed that when he did this he saw pictures in the flames, and in\nthe red coals, and that these pictures helped him to tell the story. But\nMorning Glory was impatient to hear the rest.\n\n\"Iagoo,\" she said, timidly, at last. \"Did you forget about the\nDormouse?\"\n\n[Illustration: 0000]\n\n\"Eh-yah! the Dormouse! No. I have not forgotten,\" answered the old man,\nrousing himself. \"When the sun did not rise as usual, the animals could\nnot tell what had happened. Ad-ji-dau-mo, the squirrel, chattered and\nscolded from the branch of a pine tree. Kah-gah-gee, the raven, flapped\nhis wings, and croaked more hoarsely than ever, to tell the others that\nthe end of the world had come. Only Muk-wa, the bear, did not mind. He\nhad crept into his cave for the winter, and the darker it was the better\nhe liked it.\n\n\"Wa-bun, the East Wind, was the one who brought the news. He had drawn\nfrom his quiver the silver arrows with which he chased the darkness from\nthe valleys. But the sun had not risen to help him, and the arrows fell\nharmless to the earth. 'Wake, wake!' he wailed. 'Someone has caught the\nsun in a snare. Which of all the animals will dare to cut the cord?'\n\n\"But even Coyote, the prairie wolf, who was the wisest of them all,\ncould think of no way to free the sun. So great was the heat thrown out\nby its rays that he could not come within an arrow's flight of where it\nwas caught fast in the magical noose of hair.\n\n\"'Leave it to me!' screamed Ken-eu, the war-eagle, from his nest on the\ncliff. 'It is I alone who soar to the sky, and look the sun in the face,\nwithout winking. Leave it to me!'\n\n\"Down he darted through the darkness, and up he flew again, with his\neagle feathers singed. Then they woke the Dormouse. They had a hard time\ndoing it, because when he once went to sleep he stayed asleep for six\nmonths, and it was almost impossible to arouse him. Coyote crept close\nto his ear, and howled with all his might. It would have split the\neardrum of almost any other animal. But Kug-e-been-gwa-kwa, the Dormouse,\nonly groaned and turned over on the other\n\n[Illustration: 0000]\n\nside, and Coyote had a narrow escape from being mashed flat, like a\ncorn-cake.\n\n\"'There is only one thing that will wake him,' said Coyote, getting up\nand shaking himself. 'I will run to the mountain cave of An-ne-mee-kee,\nthe Thunder. His voice is even more terrible than mine.' So off he went\nat a gallop.\n\n\"Soon they could hear An-ne-mee-kee coming. Boom, boom! When he shouted\nin the ear of the Dormouse, the biggest beast on earth rose slowly to\nhis feet. In the darkness he looked bigger than ever, almost as big as\na mountain. An-ne-mee-kee, the Thunder, shouted once more, to make\nsure that the Dormouse was really wide awake, and would not go to sleep\nagain.\n\n\"'Now,' said Coyote to the Dormouse, 'it is you that will have to free\nthe sun. If he burned one of us, there would be little left but bones.\nBut you are so big that if part of you is burned away there will still\nbe enough. Then, in that case you would not have to eat so much, or work\nso hard to get it.'\n\n\"The Dormouse was a stupid animal, and Coyote's talk seemed true talk.\nBesides, as he was the biggest animal, he was expected to do the biggest\nthings. So he made his way to the hill, where the little boy had snared\nthe sun, and began to nibble at the noose. As he nibbled away, his back\ngot hotter and hotter. Soon it began to burn, till all the upper part of\nhim burned away, and became great heaps of ashes. At last, when he had\ncut through the cord with his teeth, and set the sun free, all that\nwas left of him was an animal no larger than an ordinary mouse. What he\nbecame then, so he is today. Still, he is big enough for a mouse; and\nperhaps that is what Coyote really meant. Coyote, the prairie wolf, is\na cunning beast, up to many tricks, and it is not always easy to tell\nexactly what he means.\"\n\n[Illustration: 0047]\n\n[Illustration: 0048]\n\n\n\n\nHow the Summer Came\n\n[Illustration: 9048]\n\nORNING Glory was tired of the winter, and longed for the spring to come.\nSometimes it seemed as if Ka-bib-on-okka, the fierce old North Wind,\nwould never go back to his home in the Land of Ice. With his cold breath\nhe had frozen tight and hard the Big-Sea-Water,Gitche Gumee, and covered\nit deep with snow, till you could not tell the Great Lake from the land.\n\nExcept for the beautiful green pines, all the world was white--a\ndazzling, silent world in which there was no musical murmur of waters\nand no song of birds.\n\n\"Will O-pee-chee, the robin, never come again?\" sighed Morning Glory.\n\"Suppose there was no summer anywhere, and no Sha-won-dasee, the South\nWind, to bring the violet and the dove. O, Iagoo, would it not be\ndreadful?\"\n\n\"Be patient, Morning Glory,\" answered the old man. \"Soon you will hear\nWa-wa, the wild goose, flying high up, on his way to the North. I have\nlived many moons. Sometimes he seems long in coming, but he always\ncomes. When you hear him call, then O-pee-chee, the robin, will not be\nfar behind.\"\n\n\"I'll try to be patient\" said Morning Glory. \"But Ka-bib-on-okka, the\nNorth wnd, is so strong and fierce. I can't help wondering whether there\never was a time when his power was so great that he made his home here\nalways. It makes me shiver to think of it!\"\n\nIagoo rose from his place by the fire, and drew to one side the curtain\nof buffalo-hide that screened the doorway. He pointed to the sky--clear,\nand sparkling with stars.\n\n[Illustration: 0000]\n\n\"Look!\" he said. \"There, in the North. See that little cluster of stars.\nDo you know the name we give it?\"\n\n\"I know,\" said Eagle Feather. \"It is O-jeeg An-nung--the Fisher stars.\nIf you look right, you can see how they make the body of the Fisher. He\nis stretched out flat, with an arrow through his tail. See, sister!\"\n\n\"The Fisher,\" repeated Morning Glory. \"You mean the furry little animal,\nsomething like a fox? Is Marten another name for it?\"\n\n\"That's it,\" said Eagle Feather.\n\n\"Yes, I see,\" nodded Morning Glory. \"But why is the Fisher spread out\nflat that way, in the sky, with an arrow sticking through his tail?\"\n\n\"I don't know just exactly why,\" admitted Eagle Feather. \"I suppose some\nhunter was chasing him. Perhaps Iagoo can tell us.\"\n\nIagoo closed the curtain, and went back to the fire.\n\n\"You thought there might have been a time when there was no summer on\nthe earth,\" he said to Morning Glory. \"And you were right. Until O-jeeg,\nthe Fisher, found a way to bring the summer down from the sky, the earth\nwas everywhere covered with snow, and it was always cold. If O-jeeg\nhad not been willing to give his life, so that all the rest of us could\nbe warm, Ka-bib-on-okka, the North Wind, would have ruled the world, as\nhe now rules the Land of Ice.\"\n\nThen Morning Glory and Eagle Feather sat down on the soft rug that was\nonce the winter coat of Muk-wa, the bear, and Iagoo told them the story\nof How the Summer Came:\n\nIn the wild forest that borders the Great Lake there once lived a mighty\nhunter named O-jeeg. No one knew the woods so well as he; where others\nwould be lost without a trail to guide them, he found his way easily\nand quickly, by day or night, through the trackless tangle of trees and\nunderbrush. Where the red deer fled, he followed; the bear could not\nescape\n\n[Illustration: 0000]\n\nhis swift pursuit. He had the cunning of the fox, the endurance of the\nwolf, the speed of the wild turkey when it runs at the scent of danger.\n\nWhen O-jeeg shot an arrow, it always hit the mark. When he set out on a\njourney, no storm or snow could turn him back. He did everything he said\nhe would do, and did it well.\n\nThus it was that some men came to believe that O-jeeg was a\nManito--the Indian name for one who has magic powers. This much was\ncertain: whenever O-jeeg wished to do so, he could change himself into\nthe little animal known as the Fisher, or Marten.\n\n[Illustration: 0051]\n\nPerhaps that is why he was on such friendly terms with some of the\nanimals, who were always willing to help him when he called upon them.\nAmong these were the otter, the beaver, the lynx, the badger and the\nwolverine. There came a time, as we shall see, when he needed their\nservices badly, and they were not slow in coming to his assistance.\n\nO-jeeg had a wife whom he dearly loved, and a son, of thirteen years,\nwho promised to be as great a hunter as his father. Already he had shown\ngreat skill with the bow and arrow; if some accident should prevent\nO-jeeg from supplying the family with the game upon which they lived,\nhis son felt sure that he himself could shoot as many squirrels and\nturkeys as they needed to keep them from starving. With O-jeeg to bring\nthem venison, bear's meat and wild turkey, they had thus far plenty to\neat. Had it not been for the cold, the boy would have been happy enough.\nThey had warm clothing, made from deerskin and furs; to keep their fire\nburning, they had all the wood in the forest. Yet, in spite of this,\nthe cold was a great trial; for it was always winter, and the deep snow\nnever melted.\n\nSome wise old men had somewhere heard that the sky was not only the roof\nof our own world, but also was the floor of a beautiful world beyond; a\nland where birds with bright feathers\n\n[Illustration: 0000]\n\nsang sweetly through a pleasant, warm season called Summer. It was a\npretty story that people wished to believe; and likely enough they said,\nwhen you came to think that the sun was so far away from the earth, and\nso close to the sky itself.\n\nThe boy used to dream about it, and wonder what could be done. His\nfather could do anything; some men said he was a Manito. Perhaps he\ncould find some way to bring Summer to the earth. That would be the\ngreatest thing of all.\n\nSometimes it was so cold that when the boy went into the woods his\nfingers would be frost-bitten. Then he could not fit the notch of his\narrow to the bowstring, and was obliged to go back home without any game\nwhatever. One day he had wandered far in the forest, and was returning\nemptyhanded, when he saw a red squirrel seated on his hind-legs on the\nstump of a tree. The squirrel was gnawing a pine cone, and did not try\nto run away when the young hunter came near. Then the little animal\nspoke:\n\n\"My grandson,\" said he, \"there is something I wish to tell you that you\nwill be pleased to hear. Put away your arrows, and do not try to shoot\nme, and I shall give you some good advice.\"\n\nThe boy was surprised; but he unstrung his bow, and put the arrow in his\nquiver.\n\n\"Now,\" said the squirrel, \"listen carefully to what I have to say. The\nearth is always covered with snow, and the frost bites your fingers,\nand makes you unhappy. I dislike the cold as much as you do. To tell\nthe truth, there is little enough for me to eat in these woods, with the\nground frozen hard all the time. You can see how thin I am, for there is\nnot much to eat in a pine cone. If someone could manage to bring the Summer\ndown from the sky, it would be a great blessing.\" \"Is it really true,\nthen,\" asked the boy, \"that up beyond the sky is a pleasant warm land,\nwhere Winter only stays for a few moons?\"\n\n[Illustration: 0000]\n\n\"Yes, it is true,\" said the squirrel. \"We animals have known it for a\nlong time. Ken-eu, the war-eagle, who soars near the sun, once saw\na small crack in the sky. The crack was made by Way-wass-i-mo, the\nLightning, in a great storm that covered all the earth with water.\nKen-eu, the war-eagle, felt the warm air leaking through; but the people\nwho live up above mended the crack the very next moment, and the sky has\nnever leaked again.\"\n\n\"Then our wise old men were right,\" said the boy. \"O-jeeg, my father,\ncan do most anything he has a mind to. Do you suppose if he tried hard\nenough, he could get through the sky, and bring the Summer down to us?\"\n\n\"Of course!\" exclaimed the squirrel. \"That is why I spoke to you about\nit. Your father is a Manito. If you beg him hard enough, and tell him\nhow unhappy you are, he is sure to make the attempt. When you go back,\nshow him your frostbitten fingers. Tell him how you tramp all day\nthrough the snow, and how difficult it is to make your way home. Tell\nhim that some day you may be frozen stiff, and never get back at all.\nThen he will do as you ask, because he loves you very much.\"\n\nThe boy thanked the squirrel, and promised to follow this advice. From\nthat day he gave his father no peace. At last O-jeeg said to him:\n\n\"My son, what you ask me to do is a dangerous thing, and\nI do not know what may come of it. But my power as a Manito was given\nme for a good purpose, and I can put it to no better use than to try to\nbring the Summer down from the sky, and make the world a more pleasant\nplace to live in.\" Then he prepared a feast to which he invited his\nfriends, the otter, the beaver, the lynx, the badger, and the wolverine;\nand they all put their heads together, to decide what was best to be\ndone. The lynx was the first to speak. He had travelled far on his\nlong legs, and had been to many strange places.\n\n[Illustration: 0000]\n\nBesides, if you had good strong eyes, and you looked at the sky, on\na clear night when there was no moon, you could see a little group of\nstars which the wise old men said was exactly like a lynx. It gave him a\ncertain importance, especially in matters of this kind; so when he began\nto speak, the others listened with great respect.\n\n\"There is a high mountain,\" said he, \"that none of you has ever seen. No\none ever saw the top, because it is always hidden by the clouds; but I\nam told it is the highest mountain in the world, and almost touches the\nsky.\"\n\nThe otter began to laugh. He is the only animal that can do this;\nsometimes he laughs for no particular reason, unless it is that he\nthinks himself more clever than the other animals, and likes to \"show\noff.\"\n\n\"What are you laughing at?\" asked the lynx.\n\n\"Oh, nothing,\" answered the otter. \"I was just laughing.\" \"It will get\nyou into trouble some day,\" said the lynx. \"Just because you never heard\nof this mountain, you think it is not there.\"\n\n\"Do you know how to get to it?\" asked O-jeeg. \"If we could climb to\nthe top, we might find a way to break through the sky. It seems a good\nplan.\"\n\n\"That is what I was thinking,\" said the lynx. \"It is true I don't know\njust where it is. But a moon's journey from here, there lives a Manito\nwho has the shape of a giant. _He_ knows, and he could tell us.\"\n\nSo O-jeeg bade good-bye to his wife and his little son, and the next day\nthe lynx began the long journey, with O-jeeg and the others following\nclose behind. It was just as the lynx had said. When they had travelled,\nday and night, for a moon, they came to a lodge, as the white men call\nan Indian's tent; and there was the Manito standing in the doorway.\nHe was a queer-looking man, such as they had never seen before, with an\nenormous head\n\n[Illustration: 0000]\n\nand three eyes, one eye being set in his forehead above the other two.\n\nHe invited them into the lodge, and set some meat before them; but he\nhad such an odd look, and his movements were so awkward, that the otter\ncould not help laughing. At this, the eye in the Manito's forehead\ngrew red, like a live coal, and he made a leap at the otter, who barely\nmanaged to slip through the doorway, out into the bitter cold and\ndarkness of the night, without having tasted a morsel of supper.\n\nWhen the otter had gone, the Manito seemed satisfied, and told them they\ncould spend the night in his lodge. They did so; and O-jeeg, who stayed\nawake while his friends slept, noticed that only two of the Manito's\neyes were closed, while the one in his forehead remained wide open.\n\nIn the morning the Manito told O-jeeg to travel straight toward the\nNorth Star, and that in twenty suns--the Indian name for days--they\nwould reach the mountain. \"As you are a Manito yourself,\" he said, \"you\nmay be able to climb to the top, and to take your friends with you. But\nI cannot promise that you will be able to get down again.\"\n\n\"If it is close enough to the sky,\" answered O-jeeg, \"that is all I\nask.\"\n\nOnce more they set out. On their way they met the otter, who laughed\nagain when he saw them; but this time he laughed because he was glad\nto find them, and glad to get some meat that O-jeeg had saved from the\nManito's supper.\n\nIn twenty days they came to the foot of the mountain. Then up and up\nthey climbed, till they passed quite through the clouds; up once more,\ntill at last they stopped, all out of breath, and sat down to rest on\nthe highest peak in the world. To their great delight, the sky seemed so\nclose that they could almost touch it.\n\nO-jeeg and his comrades filled their pipes. But before smoking, they\ncalled out to the Great Spirit, asking for success\n\n[Illustration: 0000]\n\nin their attempt. In Indian fashion they pointed to the earth, to the\nsky overhead, and to the four winds.\n\n\"Now,\" said O-jeeg, when they had finished smoking, \"which of you can\njump the highest?\"\n\nThe otter grinned.\n\n\"Jump, then!\" commanded O-jeeg.\n\nThe otter jumped, and, sure enough, his head hit the sky. But the sky\nwas the harder of the two, and back he fell When he struck the ground,\nhe began to slide down the mountain; soon he was out of sight, and\nthey saw him no more.\n\n\"Ugh!\" grunted the lynx. \"He is laughing on the other side of his\nmouth.\"\n\nIt was the beaver's turn. He, too, hit the sky, but fell down in a heap.\nThe badger and the lynx had no better luck, and their heads ached for a\nlong time afterward.\n\n\"It all depends on you,\" said O-jeeg to the wolverine. \"You are the\nstrongest of them all. Ready, now--jump!\" The wolverine jumped, and\nfell, but came down on his feet, sound and whole.\n\n\"Good!\" cried O-jeeg. \"Try again!\"\n\nThis time the wolverine made a dent in the sky.\n\n\"It's cracking!\" exclaimed O-jeeg. \"Now, once more!\" For the third time\nthe wolverine jumped. Through the sky he went, passing out of sight, and\nO-jeeg quickly followed him.\n\nLooking around them, they beheld a beautiful land.\n\nO-jeeg, who had spent his life among the snows, stood like a man who\ndreams, wondering if it could be true. He had left behind him a bare\nworld, white with winter, whose waters were always frozen, a world\nwithout song or color. He had now come into a country that was a great\ngreen plain, with flowers of many hues; where birds of bright plumage\nsang amid the leafy branches of trees hung with golden fruit. Streams\nwandered through the meadows, and flowed into\n\n[Illustration: 0000]\n\nlovely lakes. The air was mild, and filled with the perfume from a\nmillion blossoms. It was Summer.\n\nAlong the banks of a lake were the lodges in which lived the people of\nthe sky, who could be seen some distance away. The lodges were empty,\nbut before them were hung cages in which there were many beautiful\nbirds. Already the warm air of Summer had begun to rush through the hole\nmade by the wolverine, and O-jeeg now made haste to open the cages, so\nthat the birds could follow.\n\nThe sky-dwellers saw what was happening, and raised a great shout. But\nSpring, Summer and Autumn had already escaped through the opening into\nthe world below, and many of the birds as well.\n\nThe wolverine, too, had managed to reach the hole, and descend to the\nearth, before the sky-dwellers could catch him. But O-jeeg was not so\nfortunate. There were still some birds remaining that he knew his son\nwould like to see, so he went on opening the cages. By this time the sky\ndwellers had closed the hole, and O-jeeg was too late.\n\nAs the sky-dwellers pursued him, he changed himself into the Fisher, and\nran along the plain, toward the North, at the top of his speed. In the\nform of the Fisher he could run faster. Also, when he took this shape,\nno arrow could injure him unless it hit a spot near the tip of his tail.\n\nBut the sky-dwellers ran even faster, and the Fisher climbed a tall\ntree. They were good marksmen, and they shot a great many arrows, until\nat last one of these chanced to hit the fatal spot. Then the Fisher knew\nthat his time had come.\n\nNow he saw that some of his enemies were marked with the totems, or\nfamily arms, of his own tribe. \"My Cousins!\" he called to them. \"I beg\nof you that you go away, and leave me here alone.\"\n\nThe sky-dwellers granted his request. When they had gone, the Fisher\ncame down from the tree, and wandered\n\n[Illustration: 0000]\n\naround for a time, seeking some opening in the plain through which\nhe might return to the earth. But there was no opening; so at last,\nfeeling weak and faint, he stretched himself flat on the floor of the\nsky, through which the stars may be seen from the world below.\n\n\"I have kept my promise,\" he said with a sigh of content. \"My son will\nnow enjoy the summer, and so will all the people who dwell on the earth.\nThrough the ages to come I shall be set as a sign in the heavens, and my\nname will be spoken with praise. I am satisfied.\"\n\nSo it came about that the Fisher remained in the sky, where you can see\nhim plainly for yourself, on a clear night, with the arrow through his\ntail. The Indians call them the Fisher Stars--O-jeeg An-nung; but to\nwhite men are they known as the constellation of the Plough.\n\n[Illustration: 0058]\n\n[Illustration: 0059]\n\n\n\n\nGrasshopper\n\n[Illustration: 9059]\n\nHERE was once a merry young Indian who could jump so high, and who\nplayed so many pranks, that he came to be known as Grasshopper. He was a\ntall, handsome fellow, always up to mischief of one kind or another; and\nthough his tricks were sometimes amusing, he carried them much too far,\nand so in time he came to grief.\n\nGrasshopper owned all the things that an Indian likes most to have. In\nhis lodge were all sorts of pipes and weapons, ermine and other choice\nfurs, deer-skin shirts wrought with porcupine quills, many pairs of\nbeaded moccasins, and more wampum belts than one person could have\nhonestly come by.\n\nThe truth is, Grasshopper did not get these things by his skill and\ncourage as a hunter. He got them by shaking pieces of colored bone and\nwood in a wooden bowl, then throwing them on the ground. That is to say,\nGrasshopper was a gambler, and such a lucky gambler that he easily won\nfrom others, with his game of Bowl and Counters, the things that they\nhad obtained by risking their lives in the hunt.\n\nIf people put up with his ways, and even laughed at some of his mad\npranks, it was because he could dance so well. Never had there been such\na dancer. Was there a wedding to be celebrated, or some feast following\na successful hunt--then who but Grasshopper could so well supply the\nentertainment?\n\nHe could dance with a step so light that it seemed to leave no mark upon\nthe earth. He could dance as the Indian dances when he goes to war, or\nas when he holds a festival in honor of the corn. But the dance in which\nhe excelled was a furious, dizzy dance, with leaps and bounds, that\nfairly turned the heads of the beholders.\n\n[Illustration: 0000]\n\nIt was then that Grasshopper became a kind of human whirlwind. As he\nspun round and round, his revolving body drew up the dry leaves and the\ndust, till the dancer all but faded from view, and you saw instead what\nlooked like a whirling cloud.\n\nOnce, when the great Manito, named Man-a-bo-zho, took a wife and came\nto live with the tribe, that he might teach them best how to live,\nGrasshopper danced at the wedding. The Beggar's Dance, he called it,\nand such a dance! On the shores of the Big-Sea-Water, Gitche Gumee, are\nheaps of sand rising into little hills known as dunes. Had you asked\nIagoo, he would have told you that these dunes were the work of\nGrasshopper, who whirled the sands together, and piled them into hills,\nas he spun madly around in his dance at Man-a-bo-zho's wedding.\n\n[Illustration: 0061]\n\nBut though Grasshopper came to the wedding, and danced this crazy\nBeggar's Dance, it seems probable that he did it more to please himself,\nand to show his skill, than to honor the great Man-a-bo-zho. Grasshopper\nreally had no respect for anybody. When Iagoo's grandfather was in the\nmiddle of some interesting story, and had come to the most exciting\npart, Grasshopper likely as not would yawn and stretch himself, and\nsay in a loud whisper that he had heard it all before.\n\nSo, too, with Man-a-bo-zho. This great Manito, who was the son of the\nWest-Wind, Mud-je-kee-wis, had magic powers which he used for the good\nof the tribe. It was he who fasted and prayed, that his people might be\ngiven food other than the wild things of the woods; and whose prayer was\nanswered with the gift of the Indian corn. Then when Kah-gah-gee, King\nof ravens, flew down with his band of black thieves, to tear up the seed\nin the ground, it was Man-a-bo-zho who snared him, and tied him fast to\nthe ridge-pole of his lodge, to croak out a warning to the others.\n\nBut Man-a-bo-zho's goodness and wisdom had little effect\n\n[Illustration: 0000]\n\non Grasshopper. \"Pooh!\" he would say. \"Why should an Indian bother his\nhead with planting corn, when he can draw his bow and kill a good fat\ndeer?\" Then he shook his wolfskin pouch, and rattled the pieces of\nbone and wood. \"As long as I have these,\" he said to himself, \"I need\nnothing more. After all, it is everybody else that works for the man who\nknows how to use his head.\"\n\nHe walked through the village, very proud and straight, with his fan of\nturkey-feathers, a swan's plume fastened in his long, black hair, and\nthe tails of foxes trailing from his heels. In his white deer-skin\nshirt, edged with ermine, his leggings and moccasins ornamented with\nbeads and porcupine quills, he cut a fine figure. There was to be a\ndance that night, and Grasshopper, who was a great dandy and a favorite\nwith all the young girls and women, had decked himself out for the\noccasion. He had painted his face with streaks of blue and vermilion;\nhis blue-black hair, parted in the middle, and glistening with oil, hung\nto his shoulders in braids plaited with sweet grass. The warriors might\ncall him Shau-go-daya, a coward, and make jokes at his expense, but he\ndid not care. Could he not beat them all when it came to playing ball or\nquoits, and were not the maidens all in love with his good looks?\n\nMeanwhile, Grasshopper wished to pass the time in some pleasant way.\nGlancing through the door of a lodge, he saw a group of young men seated\non the ground, listening to one of old Iagoo's stories.\n\n\"Ha!\" he cried. \"Have you nothing better to do? Here's a game worth\nplaying.\"\n\nHe drew from his pouch the thirteen pieces of bone and wood, and juggled\nthem from one hand to the other. But no one paid any attention to him.\nAfter all, Grasshopper had \"more brains in his heels than in his head.\"\nFor once he had been too cunning; fearing his skill, no one could be\nfound who would play with him.\n\n[Illustration: 0000]\n\n\"Pooh!\" muttered Grasshopper, as he turned away. \"I see how it is. The\npious Man-a-bo-zho has been preaching to them again. This village is\ngetting to be pretty tiresome to live in. It's about time for me to\nstrike out, and find a place where the young men don't sit around and\ntalk to the squaws,\"\n\nHe walked along, bent on mischief. Even the dance was forgotten; he\nwondered what he could do to amuse himself. As he came to the outskirts\nof the village, he passed the lodge of Man-a-bo-zho. \"I would like to\nplay him some trick,\" he said, under his breath, \"so he will remember me\nwhen I am gone.\" But he was well aware that Man-a-bo-zho was much more\npowerful than himself; so he hesitated, not knowing exactly what do to.\n\nAt last he walked softly to the doorway, and listened, but could hear\nno sound of voices. \"Good!\" he said with a grin. \"Perhaps nobody is at\nhome.\" With that, he spun around the outside of the lodge, on one leg,\nraising a great cloud of dust. No one came out; but on the ridge-pole\nof the lodge, the captive Kah-gah-gee, King of ravens, flapped his big\nblack wings, and screamed with a hoarse, rasping cry.\n\n\"Fool!\" cried Grasshopper. \"Noisy fool!\"\n\nWith a bound; he leapt clear over the lodge, and then back again; at\nwhich the raven screamed more harshly than ever. But within the lodge\nall was silent.\n\nGrasshopper grew bolder. Going to the doorway again, he rattled the flap\nof buffalo hide. Nobody answered; so, cautiously drawing the curtain to\none side, he ventured to peer in. Then he chuckled softly. The lodge was\nempty.\n\n\"This is my chance!\" he exclaimed. \"Man-a-bo-zho is away, and so is his\nfoolish wife. I'll just pay my respects before they come back, and then\nI'll be off for good.\"\n\nSaying this, he went in, and began to turn everything upside down. He\nthrew all the bowls and kettles in a corner,\n\n[Illustration: 0000]\n\nfilled the drinking gourds with ashes from the fire, flung the rich furs\nand embroidered garments this way and that, and strewed the floor with\nwampum belts and arrows. When he finished, one might have thought a\ncrazy man had been there. No woman in the village was more neat and\norderly than the wife of Man-a-bo-zho, and Grasshopper knew this would\nvex her more than anything else he could do.\n\n\"Now for Man-a-bo-zho,\" he grinned as he left the lodge, well pleased\nwith the mischief he had wrought.\n\n\"Caw, caw!\" screamed the King of ravens.\n\n\"Kaw!\" answered Grasshopper, mocking him. \"A pretty sort of pet you are.\nDoes Man-a-bo-zho keep you sitting there because you are so handsome? Or\nis it your beautiful voice.\"\n\nWith that, he made a leap to the ridge-pole, seized the raven by\nthe neck, and whirled it round and round till it was quite limp and\nlifeless. Then he left it hanging there, as an insult to Man-a-bo-zho.\n\nHe was now in high good humor, and went his way through the forest,\nwhistling and singing, and turning hand-springs to amuse the squirrels.\nThere was a high rock, overlooking the lake, from the top of which one\ncould view the country for miles and miles. Grasshopper climbed it. He\ncould see the village plainly, so he thought he would wait there till\nMan-a-bo-zho came home. That would be part of the joke.\n\nAs he sat there, many birds darted around him, flying close over his\nhead. Man-a-bo-zho called these fowls of the air his chickens, and he\nhad put them under his protection. But Grasshopper had grown reckless.\nAlong came a flock of mountain chickens, and he strung his bow, and\nshot them as they flew, for no better reason than because they were\nMan-a-bo-zho's, and not because he needed them for food. Bird after bird\nfell, pierced by his arrows; when they had fallen, he would throw their\nbodies down the cliff, upon the beach below.\n\n[Illustration: 0000]\n\nAt last Kay-oshk, the sea-gull, spied him at this cruel sport, and gave\nthe alarm. \"Grasshopper is killing us,\" he called. \"Fly, brothers! Fly\naway, and tell our protector that Grasshopper is slaying us with his\narrows.\"\n\nWhen Man-a-bo-zho heard the news, his eyes flashed fire, and he spoke in\na voice of thunder:\n\n\"Grasshopper must die for this! He cannot escape me. Though he fly to\nthe ends of the earth, I shall follow, and visit my vengeance upon him.\"\n\nOn his feet he bound his magic moccasins with which, at each stride,\nhe could step a full mile. On his hands he drew his magic mittens with\nwhich, at one blow, he could shatter the hardest rock. Then he started\nin pursuit.\n\nGrasshopper had heard the warning call of the sea-gull, and knew it\nwas time to be off. He, too, could run. So fleet of foot was he that\nhe could shoot an arrow ahead of him, and reach the spot where it fell\nbefore it dropped to earth. Also, he had the power to change himself\ninto other shapes, and it was almost impossible to kill him. If, for\nexample, he entered the body of a beaver, and the beaver was slain,\nno sooner had its flesh grown cold than the _Fee-bi_, or spirit, of\nGrasshopper would leave the dead body, and Grasshopper would become a\nman again, ready for some new adventure.\n\nBut at first he trusted to his legs and to his cunning. On rushed\nMan-a-bo-zho, breathing vengeance; swiftly, like a moving shadow, fled\nGrasshopper. Through the forest and across the hills he fled, faster\nthan the hare. His pursuer was hot on the trail. Once he came upon the\nforest bed where the grass was still warm and bent; but the Grasshopper,\nwho had rested there, was far away. Once Man-a-bo-zho, high on a\nmountain, spied him in the meadow below. Grasshopper had shown himself\non purpose, and mocked the great Manito, and defied him. The truth is,\nGrasshopper was just a bit conceited.\n\n[Illustration: 0000]\n\nAt last he grew tired of running. Not that his legs ached him or his\nfeet were sore. But this kind of life was not much to his liking, and\nhe kept his eye open for something new. Pretty soon he came to a stream\nwhere the water was backed up by some kind of a dam, so that it flooded\nthe banks. Grasshopper had run about a thousand miles that day--counting\nall the turns and twists. He was hot and dusty, and the pond, with\nits water-lilies and rushes, looked cool and refreshing. From far, far\naway came a faint sound; it was the voice of Man-a-bo-zho, shouting his\nwar-cry.\n\n\"Tiresome fellow!\" said Grasshopper. \"I could almost wish I were a\nbeaver, and lived down there at the bottom of the pond, where no one\nwould disturb me.\"\n\nThen up popped the head of a beaver, who looked at him suspiciously.\n\n\"Don't be alarmed. I left my bow and arrows over there in the grass,\"\nexplained Grasshopper. \"Besides, I was just thinking I would like to be\na beaver myself. What do you say to that?\"\n\n\"I shall have to consult Ahmeek, our chief,\" answered the friendly\nanimal.\n\nDown he dived to the bottom, and pretty soon Ahmeek's head appeared\nabove the water, followed by the heads of twenty others.\n\n\"Let me be one of you,\" said Grasshopper. \"You have a pleasant home down\nthere in the clear, cool water, and I am tired of the life I lead.\"\n\nAhmeek was pleased that such a strong, handsome young Indian should wish\nto join their company.\n\n\"But I can help you,\" he answered, \"only after you have plunged into the\npond. Do you think you can change yourself into one of us?\"\n\n\"That is easy,\" said Grasshopper.\n\nHe waded into the water up to his waist; and behold! he\n\n[Illustration: 0000]\n\nhad a broad flat tail. Deeper and deeper he went; as the water closed\nabove his head he became a beaver, with glossy, black fur, and feet\nwebbed like a duck's. Down he sank with the others to the bottom, which\nwas covered with heaps of logs and branches.\n\n\"That,\" explained Ahmeek, \"is the food we have stored for the winter. We\neat the bark, and you will soon be as fat as any of us.\"\n\n\"But I want to be even fatter,\" said Grasshopper. \"Flatter and ten times\nas big.\"\n\n\"As you please,\" agreed Ahmeek. \"We can help to make you just as big as\nyou wish.\"\n\nThey reached the lodge where the beavers lived, and entered the\ndoorway, leading into a number of large rooms. Grasshopper selected the\nlargest one for himself.\n\n\"Now,\" he said, \"bring me all the food I can eat, and when I am big\nenough I will be your chief.\"\n\nThe beavers were willing. They set to work getting quantities of the\njuiciest bark for Grasshopper, who was delighted with this lazy life,\nand did little more than eat or sleep. Bigger and bigger he grew, till\nat last he was ten times the size of Ahmeek, and could barely manage to\nmove around in his lodge. He was perfectly happy.\n\nBut one day the beaver who kept watch up above, among the rushes of the\npond, came swimming to the lodge in a state of great excitement.\n\n\"The hunters are after us,\" he panted. \"It is indeed Man-a-bo-zho\nhimself, with his hunters. They are breaking down our dam!\"\n\nEven as he spoke, the water in the pond sank lower and lower; the next\nmoment came the tramping of feet, as the hunters leapt upon the roof of\nthe lodge, trying to break it open.\n\nAll the beavers but Grasshopper scampered out of the lodge, and escaped\ninto the stream, where they hid themselves\n\n[Illustration: 0000]\n\nin some deep pools, or swam far down with the current. Grasshopper did\nhis best to follow them, but could not. The doorway was too small for\nhis big, fat body; when he attempted to go through it, he found himself\nstuck fast.\n\nThen the roof gave way, and the head of an Indian appeared.\n\n\"_Ty-au!_\" he called. \"_Tut-ty-au!_ See what's here! This must be\nMe-shau-mik, the King of the beavers.\" Man-a-bo-zho came, and gave one\nlook.\n\n\"It's Grasshopper!\" he cried. \"I can see through his tricks. It's\nGrasshopper in the skin of a beaver.\"\n\nThen they fell upon him with their clubs; and eight tall Indians, having\nswung his limp carcass upon poles, carried it off in triumph through the\nwoods.\n\nBut his _Fee-bi_, or spirit, was still in the body of the beaver, and\nstruggled to escape. The Indians bore him to their lodges and prepared\nto make a feast. Then, when the squaws were ready to skin him, his flesh\nwas quite cold, and the spirit of Grasshopper left the beaver's body,\nand glided swiftly away. As the shadowy shape fled across the prairie,\ninto the forest, the watchful Man-a-bo-zho saw it take the human form of\nGrasshopper, and he started in pursuit.\n\nGrasshopper's life among the beavers had made him lazier than ever, and\nas he ran he looked around for some easier way than running. Soon he\ncame upon a herd of elk, a species of deer with large, spreading horns.\nThe elk were feeding contentedly, and looked sleek and fat.\n\n\"They lead a free and happy life,\" said Grasshopper as he watched them.\n\"Why fatigue myself with running? I'll change myself into an elk, and\njoin their band.\"\n\nHorns sprouted from his head; in a few minutes the transformation was\ncomplete. Still he was not satisfied.\n\n\"I am hardly big enough,\" he said to the leader. \"My feet are much too\nsmall, and my horns should be twice the\n\n[Illustration: 0000]\n\nsize of yours. Is there nothing I can do to make them grow?\" \"Yes,\"\nanswered the leader of the elks. \"But you do it at your own risk.\"\n\nHe took Grasshopper into the woods, and showed him a bright red berry\nthat hung in clusters on some small, low bushes.\n\n\"Eat these,\" he said, \"and nothing else, and your horns and feet will\nsoon be much bigger than ours. However, it would be wise if you did not\neat too many of them.\"\n\nThe berries were delicious. Grasshopper felt that he could not get\nenough, and he ate them greedily whenever he could find them. Before\nlong his feet had grown so large and heavy he could hardly keep up with\nthe herd, while his horns had such a huge spread that he sometimes found\nthem rather in his way.\n\nOne cold day the herd went into the woods for shelter; pretty soon\nsome of the elks who had lingered behind came rushing by with snorts\nof-alarm. Hunters were pursuing them.\n\n\"Run!\" called out the leader to Grasshopper. \"Follow us out on the\nprairie, where the Indians cannot catch us.\" Grasshopper tried to follow\nthem; but his big feet weighted him down, and he ran slowly. Then, as he\nplunged madly through a thicket, his spreading horns were entangled in\nsome low branches that held him fast. Already several arrows had whizzed\nby him; another pierced his heart, and he sank to the ground.\n\nAlong came the hunters, with a whoop. \"Ty-au!\" they exclaimed when\nthey saw the enormous elk. \"It is he who made the large tracks on the\nprairie. Ty-au!\"\n\nAs they were skinning him, Man-a-bo-zho joined the party; and at that\nmoment the _Fee-bi_, or spirit, of Grasshopper escaped through the mouth\nof the dead elk, and passed swiftly to the open plains, like a puff of\nwhite smoke driven before the wind. Then, as Man-a-bo-zho watched it\nmelt away, he\n\n[Illustration: 0000]\n\nsaw once more the mortal shape of Grasshopper; and once more he followed\nafter, breathing vengeance.\n\nAs Grasshopper ran on, a new thought came into his head. Above him in\nthe clear blue sky the birds wheeled and soared. \"There is the place for\nme,\" he said, \"far up in the sky. Let me have wings, and I can laugh at\nMan-a-bo-zho.\"\n\nAhead of him was a lake; approaching it, he saw a flock of wild geese\nknown as brant, feeding among the rushes. \"Ha,\" said Grasshopper,\nadmiring them as they sailed smoothly here and there. \"They will soon be\nwinging their way to the North. I would like to fly in their company.\"\n\nHe spoke to them, calling them Pish-ne-kuh, his brothers, and they\nconsented to receive him as one of the flock. So he floated on his back\ntill feathers sprouted on him, and he became a brant, with a broad\nblack beak, and a tail that would guide him through the air as a rudder\nsteers a ship.\n\nGreedy as ever, he fed long after the others had had enough, so that\nhe soon grew into the biggest brant ever seen. His beak looked like the\npaddles of a canoe; when he spread his wings they were as large as two\nlarge _au-puk-wa_, or mats. The wild geese gazed at him in astonishment.\n\"You must fly in the lead,\" they said.\n\n\"No,\" answered Grasshopper. \"I would rather fly behind.\" \"As you\nplease,\" they told him. \"But you will have to be careful. By all means\nkeep your head and neck straight out before you, and do not look down as\nyou fly, or you may meet with an accident.\"\n\nIt was a beautiful sight to see them flap their wings, stretch their\nlong necks, and rise with a \"whir\" from the lake, mounting the wind, and\nrushing on before it. They flew with a breeze from the south, faster and\nfaster, till their speed was like the flight of an arrow.\n\nOne day, passing over a village, they could hear the people shouting.\nThe Indians were amazed at the size of the big\n\n[Illustration: 0000]\n\nbrant, flying in the rear of the flock; yelling as loud as they could\nyell, their cries made Grasshopper curious. One voice especially seemed\nfamiliar to him, and he could not resist the temptation to draw in his\nneck and stretch it down toward the earth. As he did so, the strong\nwind caught his tail, and turned him over and over. In vain he tried to\nrecover his balance; the wind whirled him round and round, as it whirls\na leaf. The earth came nearer, the shouts of the Indians grew louder in\nhis ears; at last he fell with a thud, and lay lifeless.\n\nIt was a fine feast of wild goose that had dropped so suddenly from\nthe skies. The hungry Indians pounced upon him, and began to pluck his\nfeathers. This was the very village where Grasshopper had once lived;\nlittle had he dreamed that he would ever return to supply it with such a\ndinner, a dinner at which he himself was to be the best dish.\n\nBut again his _Fee-bi_, or spirit, went forth, and fled in the form of\nGrasshopper; again Man-a-bo-zho, shouting his warcry, followed after.\n\nGrasshopper had now come to the desert places, where there were few\ntrees, and no signs of animal life. Man-abo-zho was gaining on him; he\nmust play some new trick. Coming at last to a tall pine-tree growing\nin the rock, he climbed it, pulled off all the green needles, and\nscattered them about, leaving the branches quite bare. Then he took to\nhis heels again. When Man-a-bo-zho came, the pine spoke to him, saying:\n\n\"See what Grasshopper has done. Without my foliage I am sure to die.\nGreat Manito, I pray you give me back my green dress.\"\n\nMan-a-bo-zho, who loves and protects all trees, had pity on the pine. He\ncollected the scattered needles, and restored them to the branches. Then\nhe hastened on with such speed that he overtook Grasshopper, and put his\nhand out to clutch him. But Grasshopper stepped quickly aside, and spun\n\n[Illustration: 0000]\n\nround and round on one leg in his whirlwind dance, till the air all\nabout was filled with leaves and sand. In the midst of this whirlwind\nhe sprang into a hollow tree, and changed himself into a snake. Then he\ncrept out through the roots, and not a moment too soon; for Man-a-bo-zho\nsmote the tree with one of his magic mittens, and crumbled it to powder.\n\nGrasshopper changed himself back into his human form, and ran for dear\nlife. The only thing left for him to do was to hide. But where? In his\nheadlong flight he had come again to the shores of the Great Lake; and\nhe saw rising before him the high cliff of the Picture Rocks. If he\ncould but manage to reach these rocks, the Manito of the Mountain, who\nlived in one of the gloomy caverns, might let him in. Sure enough! As he\nreached the cliff, calling out for help, the Manito opened the door, and\ntold him to enter.\n\nHardly had the big door closed with a bang, than along came\nMan-a-bo-zho. With his mitten he gave a tap on the rock that made the\nsplinters fly.\n\n\"Open!\" he cried, in a terrible voice.,\n\nBut the Manito was brave and hospitable.\n\n\"I have sheltered you,\" he said to Grasshopper, \"and I would rather die\nmyself than give you up.\"\n\nMan-a-bo-zho waited, but no answer came.\n\n\"As you will,\" he said at last. \"If the door is not opened to me by\nnight, I shall call upon the Thunder and the Lightning to do my\nbidding.\"\n\nThe hours passed; darkness fell. Then from a black cloud that had\ngathered over the Great Lake, Way-wass-i-mo, the red-eyed Lightning,\nshot his bolts of fire. Crash--boom--crash! An-ne-mee-kee, the Thunder,\nshouted hoarsely from the heavens. A wild wind arose; the trees of the\nforest swayed and groaned, and the foxes hid in their holes.\n\nWay-wass-i-mo, the Lightning, leapt from the black cloud, and darted at\nthe cliff. The rock trembled; the door was\n\n[Illustration: 0000]\n\nshivered, and fell apart. Out from his gloomy cavern came the Manito\nof the Mountain, asking Man-a-bo-zho for mercy. It was granted, and the\nManito fled to the hills.\n\nGrasshopper then appeared; the next moment he was buried under a mass of\nrock shaken loose by An-ne-mee-kee, the Thunder. This time he had been\nkilled in his human form, he could play his mad pranks no more.\n\nBut Man-a-bo-zho, the merciful, remembered that Grasshopper was not\nwholly bad.\n\n\"Your _Fee-bi_\" he said, \"must no longer remain upon the earth in any\nform whatever. As a man you lived an idle, foolish life, and you are no\nlonger wanted here. Instead, I shall permit you to inhabit the skies.\"\n\nSaying this, he took the ghost of Grasshopper, and clothed it with the\nshape of the war-eagle, bidding him to be chief of all the fowls. .\n\nBut Grasshopper, the mischievous, is not forgotten by the people. In\nthe late winter days, snow fine as powder fills the air like a vapor. It\nkeeps the hunter from his traps, the fisherman from his hole in the ice.\nSuddenly a puff of wind seizes this light, powdery snow, blows it\nround and round, and sets it whirling along; and when this happens, the\nIndians laugh and say:\n\n\"Look! There goes Grasshopper. See how well he dances.\"\n\n[Illustration: 0073]\n\n[Illustration: 0074]\n\n\n\n\nMish-o-sha, the Magician\n\n[Illustration: 9074]\n\nN the heart of the great green forest once lived a hunter whose lodge\nwas many miles distant from the wigwams of his tribe. His wife had long\nsince died, and he dwelt there all alone with his two young sons, who\ngrew up as best they could without a mother's care.\n\nWhen the father was away on a hunting trip, the boys had no companions\nbut the birds and beasts of the forest, and with some of the smaller\nanimals they became fast friends. Ad-ji-dau-mo, the squirrel, scampering\nfrom tree to tree, would let his nut-shells fall plump on the roof of\nthe lodge. That was his way of knocking at the door, coming to pay a\nmorning call. He was a great talker, without much to say--as is often so\nwith those whose voices are seldom still. But he was bright and merry,\nchattering away cheerfully about nothing in particular; and it made no\ndifference whether you listened to him or not.\n\nWa-bo-se, the little white hare, was another friend. One winter's day,\nwhen forest food was scarce, O-ne-o-ta, the lynx, was just about to\npounce upon him, when the boys' father let fly an arrow--and O-ne-o-ta\nwas no longer interested in little white hares.\n\nWa-bo-se was grateful for this, and sometimes in his shy way he tried to\nshow it.\n\nThe father and the boys lived mostly on big game, like bear and venison.\nThis meat would be cut in strips, and cured; sometimes it had to last\nthem many a long day, when game was scarce, or the woods so dry for want\nof rain that the twigs would snap under the hunters feet, and warn the\nanimals\n\n[Illustration: 0000]\n\nhe was coming. So the boys were used to being left alone for weeks at a\ntime, when their father was absent.\n\nThen came a season of famine. No berries grew on the bushes, grass\nwithered on the stalk, few acorns hung on the oaks. Some of the brooks\nwent dry. Thus it happened that the hunter had gone far in search of\ngame.\n\nMany months passed. When Seegwun, the elder boy, saw that but little\nmeat remained, he said to his younger brother Ioscoda:\n\n\"Let us take what meat is left, and strike out through the forest,\ntoward the North. I remember our father saying that many moons distant\nlies a great lake called Gitche Gumee, whose waters are alive with\nfish.\"\n\n\"But can we find our way?\" asked Ioscoda, doubtfully. \"Never fear!\"\ncalled out a voice from overhead.\n\nIt was Ad-ji-dau-mo, the squirrel, frisky as ever, though a little lean\nfor lack of nuts.\n\n\"I'll go along with you,\" he continued, \"and so will Wa-bo-se, the white\nhare. He can hop ahead and find the trail, and I can jump from tree to\ntree, and keep a look-out. Between us, we are bound to go right.\"\n\nIt proved to be a good idea, and Wa-bo-se took the lead. Where the\ntrail was overgrown with grass, he would nose his way along the ground,\nwithout once going wrong; where the track was plain, he would run ahead,\nthen stop and sit up on his haunches, to wait for the boys, his long\nears pricked up and moving, to detect the slightest danger.\n\nBut nothing happened to alarm them. The lynx, the wildcat and the\nwolf had all fled before the famine, and the silent forest was empty of\nsavage beasts. On and on they went, till it seemed as if the woods would\nnever end. Then, one day, Ad-ji-dau-mo climbed a tall pine, from whose\ntopmost bough he could see far over the forest. The sun was shining\nbright; as he cocked his eye and looked toward the north,\n\n[Illustration: 0000]\n\nsomething that seemed to meet the sky sparkled like silver. It was\nGitche Gumee, the Great Lake.\n\nThey had reached a place where nuts were plentiful, and many green\nthings grew that would fatten the white hare. So Wa-bo-se and the\nsquirrel bade good-bye to the boys, who could now make their way with\nease. Soon they came to the edge of the woods. They heard a piping\ncry. It was Twee-tweesh-ke-way, the plover, flying along the beach; in\nanother moment the great glittering waters lay before them.\n\nSeegwun with his sharp hunting knife cut a limb from an ash-tree, and\nmade a bow; from an oak bough he whittled some arrows, which he tipped\nwith flint. He found feathers fallen from a gull's wing for the shaft; a\nstrip cut from his deer-skin shirt supplied the bow-string. Then giving\nthe bow and arrow to Ioscoda, to practice with, he gathered some seed\npods from the wild rose, to stay their hunger.\n\nAn arrow, badly aimed by his brother, fell into the lake, and Seegwun\nwaded in, to recover it. He had walked into the water till it reached\nhis waist, and put out his hand to grasp the arrow, when suddenly, as if\nby magic, a canoe came skimming along like a bird. In the canoe was an\nugly old man, who reached out, seized the astonished boy, and pulled him\non board.\n\n\"If I must go with you, take my brother, too!\" begged Seegwun. \"If he is\nleft here, all alone, he will starve.\"\n\nBut Mish-o-sha, the Magician, only laughed. Then striking the side of\nthe canoe with his hand, and uttering the magic words, _Chemaun Poll_,\nit shot across the lake like a thing alive, so that the beach was\nquickly lost to sight. Soon it came to rest on a sandy shore, and\nMish-o-sha, leaping out, beckoned him to follow.\n\nThey had landed on an island. Before them, in a grove of cedars, were\ntwo wigwams, or lodges; from the smaller one two lovely young girls came\nout, and stood looking at them.\n\n[Illustration: 0000]\n\nTo Seegwun, who had never before seen a girl, these maidens looked like\nspirits from the skies. He gazed at them in wonder, half expecting they\nwould vanish. For their part they looked at him without smiling; in\ntheir dark eyes were only sympathy and sadness.\n\n\"My daughters!\" said the old man to Seegwun, with a chuckle that\ndisplayed his long, yellow teeth. Then turning to the girls:\n\n\"Are you not glad to see me safely back?\" he asked,\"and are you not\npleased with my handsome young friend here?\" They bent their heads\npolitely, but said nothing.\n\n\"It's a long time since you were favored with such a visitor,\" he went\non, in a loud whisper to the elder girl. \"He would make you a fine\nhusband.\"\n\nThe maiden murmured something under her breath, and Mish-o-sha gave her\na wicked look.\n\n\"We shall see, we shall see!\" he muttered to himself, laughing like a\nmagpie, and rubbing his long, bony hands together.\n\nSeegwun, much troubled in mind, and hardly knowing what to make of it\nall, resolved to keep his eyes open. Luckily Mish-o-sha was sometimes\ncareless. He walked on ahead, and entered his lodge, leaving the others\ntogether; whereupon the elder girl, approaching Seegwun, spoke to him\nquickly: \"We are not his daughters,\" she said. \"He brought us here as he\nbrought you. He hates the human race. Every moon he seizes a young man,\nand pretends he has borne him here as a husband for me. But soon he\ntakes him off in his canoe, and the young man never comes back. We feel\nsure Mish-o-sha has made away with them all.\"\n\n\"What must I do?\" asked Seegwun. \"I care less for myself than for\nmy little brother. He was left behind on a wild beach, and may die of\nhunger.\"\n\n\"Ah!\" said the maiden. \"You are really good and unselfish;\n\n[Illustration: 0000]\n\nso, no matter what comes of it, we must aid you. Koko-ko-ho, the\ngreat owl, keeps watch all night on the bare limb of that big cedar.\nWait till Mish-o-sha falls asleep, then wrap yourself from head to foot\nin his blanket, and steal softly to the door of our lodge. Whisper my\nname,Nin-i-mo-sha, and I shall come out and tell you what to do.\"\n\n\"Nin-i-mo-sha,\" murmured the youth. \"What a beautiful name!\" Then,\nbefore he could thank her, the girls were gone.\n\nMish-o-sha now appeared, and made a sign to Seegwun to join him. The old\nman seemed to be in a good humor, and passed the time telling stories;\nbut Seegwun was not deceived by this pretense of friendship. When the\nMagician was sound asleep, he rose, wrapped Mish-o-sha's blanket around\nhim, and walked carefully to the door of the little lodge.\n\n\"Nin-i-mo-sha!\" he whispered, and his heart beat fast; for Nin-i-mo-sha\nin the Indian tongue is \"My Sweetheart.\" \"Seegwun!\" she answered; and\nhis name, meaning \"Spring,\" came like music from her lips.\n\nShe drew aside the curtain, and came out.\n\n\"Here,\" she said, \"is food that will last your brother for several days.\nGet into Mish-o-sha's canoe, pronounce the magic charm, and it will take\nyou where you wish. You can be back before daybreak.\"\n\n\"But the owl?\" asked Seegwun. \"Will he not cry out?\" \"Walk with a stoop,\nthe way Mish-o-sha walks,\" she explained. \"Ko-ko-ko-ho, when he\nsees you, will cry 'Hoot, hoot!' You must answer, 'Hoot, hoot, whoo!\nMish-o-sha.' Then he will let you pass.\"\n\nSeegwun did as he was told, and was soon skimming across the lake.\nHaving landed on the beach, he began to bark like a squirrel; and at\nthis friendly signal his brother ran up and flung his arms around him.\nSeegwun made a shelter for the boy, and told him he would come\nagain. Then he returned in the canoe, and was soon fast asleep in the\nMagician's lodge.\n\n[Illustration: 0000]\n\nMish-o-sha, who trusted in his owl, suspected nothing. How should he\nknow what lovers can do when they put their heads together?\n\n\"You have slept well, my son,\" said he. \"And now we have a pleasant\njourney before us. We are going to an island where thousands of gulls\nlay their eggs in the sand, and we shall get all we can carry away.\"\n\nRemembering what Nin-i-mo-sha had said, Seegwun shivered. But she\nkissed her hand, and waved him a good-bye; and this put heart in him.\n\nAs the canoe sped away, he made sure that his hunting knife slipped\neasily in its sheath, and he did not take his eyes off Mish-o-sha for a\nmoment.\n\nWhen they reached the island the gulls rose in great numbers, and flew\nscreaming above their heads.\n\n\"You gather the eggs,\" said the Magician, \"while I keep watch in the\ncanoe.\"\n\nSeegwun hastened ashore, glad to quit the old man's company. Then the\nMagician cried out to the gulls:\n\n\"Ho, my feathered friends! Here is the human offering I promised you\nwhen you agreed to call me master. Fly down, my pretty ones! Fly down,\nand devour him!\"\n\nStriking the side of his canoe, he abandoned the youth to the mercy of\nthe birds.\n\nWith harsh cries, the gulls swept down on Seegwun. Never had he heard\nsuch a clamor. Ten thousand wings beat the air, and stirred it like a\nstorm. Whirling and darting they came upon him in a cloud. But Seegwun\ndid not flinch. Shouting the _Saw-saw-quan_, or war-cry, he seized the\nfirst bird that attacked him. Then grasping it by the neck, he held it\nhigh above his head in his left hand, and with his right hand drew his\nknife, which glittered in the sun.\n\n\"Hold!\" he cried. \"Hold, you poor fools! Beware the vengeance of the\nGreat Spirit.\"\n\n[Illustration: 0000]\n\nThe gulls paused in their attack, but still circled around him, with\nsharp beaks extended.\n\n\"Hear me, O Gulls!\" he continued. \"The Great Spirit gave you life that\nyou might serve mankind. Slay me, and you slay one made to rule over all\nthe beasts and birds. I tell you, beware!\"\n\n\"But Mish-o-sha is all powerful.\" screamed the gulls. \"He has bidden us\ndestroy you.\"\n\n\"Mish-o-sha is no Manito,\" answered Seegwun. \"He is only a wicked\nmagician who would use you for his own evil ends. Bear me on your wings\nback to his island; for it is he who must be destroyed.\"\n\nThen the gulls, persuaded that Mish-o-sha had tricked them, drew close\ntogether, that the youth might lie upon their backs. Rising on the wind,\nthey carried him across the waters, setting him down gently by the lodge\nbefore the Magician had arrived there.\n\nNin-i-ino-sha rejoiced when she saw it was really Seegwun. \"I was not\nmistaken in you,\" she told him. \"It is plain that the Great Spirit\nprotects you. But Mish-o-sha will try again, so be on your guard.\"\n\nThe Magician now arrived in his magic canoe. When he saw Seegwun he\ntried to smile pleasantly. But having had little practice in thinking\nkind thoughts, he only grinned like a gargoyle, which, excepting perhaps\nthe hyena, has the most painful possible smile. >\n\n\"Good, my son!\" he managed to say. \"You must not misunderstand me. I did\nit to test your courage; and now Nin-i-mo-sha is sure to love you. Ah,\nmy children, you will make a happy pair!\"\n\nNin-i-mo-sha turned away to hide her disgust, but Seegwun pretended to\nbelieve the malicious old man was in earnest.\n\n\"However,\" continued the Magician, \"I owe you something for having\nseemed to play you such a trick. I see you wear\n\n[Illustration: 0000]\n\nno ornaments. Come with me, then, to the Island of Glittering Shells,\nand soon you will be attired as becomes a handsome warrior.\"\n\nThe island where they landed was indeed a wonderful place, covered with\ncolored shells that gleamed in the sun like jewels.\n\n\"Look!\" said Mish-o-sha, as they walked along the beach. \"Out there a\nlittle way. See it shining on the bottom.\" Seegwun waded in. When the\nwater reached his thighs, the Magician made a leap for the canoe, and\nshoved it far out into the lake.\n\n\"Come, King of Fishes!\" he called. \"You have always served me well. Here\nis your reward.\"\n\nThen, striking his canoe, he quickly disappeared. Immediately an\nenormous fish, with jaws wide open, rose to the surface a few feet away.\nBut Seegwun only smiled, saying as he drew his long blade:\n\n\"Know, Monster, that I am Seegwun--named after him whose breath warms\nthe ice-bound waters and clothes the hills with green. The cowardly\nMish-o-sha, fearing the anger of the Great Spirit, seeks to make you\ndo what he dares not do himself. Spill but one drop of my blood, and it\nwill dye the waters of the lake, in which all your tribe will miserably\nperish.' \"Mish-o-sha has deceived me,\" said the King of Fishes. \"He\npromised me a tender maiden, and has brought instead a youth with the\neyes of a warrior. How shall I aid you, my Master?\"\n\n\"Wretch!\" exclaimed Seegwun. \"Rejoice that he did not keep his frightful\npromise. You deserve to die at my hands, but I give you a chance to\nrepent. Take me on your back to the island of Mish-o-sha, and I will\nspare your life.\"\n\nThe King of Fishes hastened to take Seegwun astride his broad back, and\nswam so swiftly that he reached the island soon after Mish-o-sha. The\nMagician was explaining to Nini-mo-sha how the youth had fallen from the\ncanoe into the\n\n[Illustration: 0000]\n\njaws of a big fish, when along came Seegwun himself, strolling up from\nthe Lake as if he had returned from an everyday excursion. Even so,\nMish-o-sha still sought to excuse himself.\n\n\"My daughter,\" said he. \"I was only trying to find out how much you\ncared for him.\"\n\nBut all the while he was saying to himself that the next time he would\nnot fail. And the next time was the very next day.\n\n\"My owl is growing old, and cannot live much longer,\" he explained. \"I\nshould like to catch a young eagle, and tame him. Will you help me?\"\n\nSeegwun consented, and went with him in the magic canoe to a rocky point\nof land reaching out into the lake. There, in the fork of a tall pine,\nwas an eagle's nest, in which were some young eagles, who could not yet\nfly.\n\n\"Quick!\" said Mish-o-sha. \"Climb the tree before the old birds return.\"\n\n[Illustration: 0083]\n\nSeegwun had almost reached the nest when the Magician spoke to the pine,\ncommanding it to grow taller. At once it began to rise, until it was\nso high, and swayed so in the wind, that he felt it would take all\nhis courage to get down again. At the same time the Magician uttered a\npeculiar cry, at which the father and mother eagles came swooping from\nthe clouds to protect their young.\n\n\"Ho, ho!\" laughed Mish-o-sha. \"This time I have made no mistake. Either\nyou will fall and break your neck, or the eagles will scratch your eyes\nout.\"\n\nStriking his canoe, he vanished in the mist.\n\nThe eagles now circled around Seegwun, who, resting on a branch, thus\naddressed them:\n\n\"My brothers, behold the eagle's feather in my hair! It proves my\nadmiration for your bravery and skill. Yet in me you see your master;\nfor I am a man, and you are only birds. Obey me, then, and bear me to\nMish-o-sha's island.\"\n\n[Illustration: 0000]\n\nThis praise pleased the eagles, who respected the youth's cool courage.\nMounting on the back of the enormous male bird, Seegwun was borne\nthrough the air, and set down safely on the enchanted island.\n\nMish-o-sha now saw that neither bird nor beast would harm this handsome\nyouth, who seemed to be protected by some powerful Manito. It must be\ndone some other way.\n\n\"One more test,\" he said to Seegwun, \"and then you may take Nin-i-mo-sha\nfor your wife. But first you must prove your skill as a hunter. Come!\"\n\nThey made a lodge in the forest; and Mish-o-sha, by his magic, caused\na snow-storm, with a stinging gale from the north, like a flight of\nicy arrows. Seegwun, that night, before going to sleep, had hung his\nmoccasins and leggings by the fire to dry; and Mish-o-sha, rising first,\nat daybreak, took one of each and threw them into the flames. Then he\nrubbed his hands, and laughed like a prairie wolf.\n\n\"What is it?\" asked Seegwun, sitting up.\n\n\"Alas, my son!\" said Mish-o-sha. \"I was just too late. This is the\nseason of the moon when fire attracts all things. It has drawn to it one\nof your moccasins and leggings, and destroyed them. Yeo, yeo! I should\nhave warned you.\"\n\nSeegwun held his tongue, though the thing was plain enough. Mish-o-sha\nmeant that he should freeze to death. But Seegwun, praying silently to\nhis Manito for aid, took from the fireplace a charred stick with which\nhe blackened one leg and foot, murmuring at the same time a charm. Then\nputting on his remaining moccasin and legging, he was ready tor the\nhunt.\n\nTheir way led through snow and ice, into thickets of thorn, and over\nbogs half-frozen, where Seegwun sank to the knees. But his prayer had\nbeen heard; the charm worked, and the youth walked on, dry shod. With\nhis first arrow he slew a bear.\n\n[Illustration: 0000]\n\n\"Now,\" he said, looking the Magician full in the eye. \"I see you are\nsuffering from the cold. Let us go back to your island.\"\n\nAt Seegwun's bold look, Mish-o-sha bent his head, and mumbled some\nfoolish answer. At last he had met his match; and he knew it.\n\n\"Take up the bear on your shoulders!\" commanded Seegwun.\n\nAgain the Magician obeyed. For the first time they returned together\nto the island, where the two young girls looked on in amazement to see\nthe proud Mish-o-sha staggering under the weight of the bear, grunting\nwith helpless rage.\n\n\"His power is broken,\" agreed Nin-i-mo-sha, when Seegwun had told her\nall. \"But we shall never sleep in safety until we are really rid of him.\nWhat is best to do?\"\n\nThey put their heads together; and when they had talked it over,\nNin-i-mo-sha laughed merrily.\n\n\"He deserves a greater punishment,\" she said. \"The world will not be\nsafe as long as he has life. Yet what we plan to do will revenge us,\nwithout shedding a single drop of blood.\" The next day Seegwun said to\nthe Magician:\n\n\"It is time that we rescued my brother, whom we left all alone on the\nbeach. Come with me.\"\n\nMish-o-sha made a wry face, but prepared to go. Landing on the beach,\nthey soon spied the boy, who joyfully clambered into the canoe. Then\nSeegwun said to the old man:\n\n\"Those red willows over on the bank would make good smoking mixture.\nCould you manage to climb up there and cut me some?\"\n\n\"To be sure, my son, to be sure,\" answered Mish-o-sha, walking rapidly\ntoward the willows. \"I am not so weak and good-for-nothing as you seem\nto think.\"\n\nSeegwun struck the canoe with his hand, pronouncing the magic words,\n_Chemaun Poll_; and away it went with the two\n\n[Illustration: 0000]\n\nbrothers aboard, leaving the Magician high and dry, and gnashing his\nyellow teeth.\n\nThe girls ran to meet them at the shore, Nin-i-mo-sha rejoicing that the\nold man had been left behind, while her sister could think of nothing\nbut the attractive boy who looked so much like his big brother.\n\n\"But Mish-o-sha can call the canoe back to him,\" said Nin-i-mo-sha,\n\"until a way is found to break the charm. Some one must keep watch, with\nhis hand upon it.\"\n\nIoscoda begged permission to do his part; so they left him, with night\ncoming on, sitting on the sand and holding fast to the canoe.\n\nIt was a tiresome task for a little boy already weary with long waiting.\nTo amuse himself he began to count the stars. First he counted those\nin the Big Dipper and the Little Dipper, then the ones that look like a\nhigh-back chair, and the three big bright ones in the belt of Orion the\nHunter. He did not know them by these names, which were given them long\nafterward; but he recognized the cluster called O-jeeg An-nung, the\nFisher, who brought Summer from the sky because his boy was cold.\n\nIoscoda also was cold, sitting there in the wet sand. But Indian boys\ndo not complain. Yet seeing the Fisher stars, he thought of his own dear\nfather, and wondered where he might be. Had Ioscoda been a white boy,\ninstead of a red, we think the sand he sat on might have been a little\nwetter for his tears. As it was, he found himself looking at the sky\nthrough a kind of fog. What was it? He rubbed his eyes, lost his count,\nand began all over again.\n\nThe worst of it was that Indians could reckon only with their\nfingers--unless you include their toes; and Ioscoda's toes were tucked\naway snugly in his moccasins, quite out of sight and question. How many\nfingers had he counted--and how--many--stars--?\n\n[Illustration: 0000]\n\nThe fog, or whatever it was, filled his eyes. Lap, lap! went the little\nwaves, rocking the canoe like a cradle. Soo, soo! sighed the wind in the\ncedars. All else earthly nodded and was still; even the stars blinked\nand winked, as if weary of watching the world.\n\nAnd Ioscoda slept.\n\nWhoo, whoo! The cry of Ko-ko-ko-ho, the owl, shrilled evilly on the\nears. It was only for a moment. The shadows lifted, a squirrel barked.\nWa-bun, the East Wind, rising above the rim of the waters, let loose his\nsilver arrows. It was day.\n\nIoscoda sat up, only half aroused, and looked out over the lake. Was he\nstill on the wild beach, waiting for his brother? Then he remembered,\nand gave a guilty start. The canoe was gone!\n\nGone, but come again! There it appeared, gliding straight toward him;\nand in it sat Mish-o-sha.\n\n\"Good-morning, child!\" called the Magician, as the canoe grated on the\nsand. \"Are you not glad to see your grandfather again?\"\n\nIoscoda clenched his small fists. He was very brave, and he was angry.\n\n\"You are _not_ my grandfather,\" he said, \"and I am _not_ glad to see you\nagain.\"\n\n\"_Esa, esa!_ (Shame, shame!)\" chuckled the old man. \"But Seegwun will be\nglad to see me, and so will my dear daughters. I hope they have not been\nworried about me.\"\n\nHe was much pleased with his cleverness in outwitting them all, and was\nnow as impudent as before. But Seegwun bided his time. He thought of\nanother plan.\n\n\"Grandfather,\" said he, \"it seems that we must continue to live here\ntogether. Let us therefore lay in a supply of meat for the winter. Come\nwith me to the mainland. I am sure you must be a mighty hunter.\"\n\n[Illustration: 0000]\n\nMish-o-sha's vanity was his weakest point.\n\n\"_Eh, yah!_\" he answered, boastfully. \"I can run all day with a dead\ndeer on my back. I have done it.\"\n\n\"Good!\" said Seegwun. \"The wind is going north again, and we shall need\nall our strength on the march.\"\n\nNow Seegwun had somehow learned the Magician's dearest secret, which\nwas this: Mish-o-sha's left leg and foot were the only parts of his\nbody that could be harmed. No arrow could pierce his heart; a war-club\nbrought down upon his head would be shivered into splinters. As well\nstrike him with a straw. But his left leg and foot. Ah! It was not for\nrheumatism that his legging was so well laced. And _why_ did he always\nsit down with his left foot tucked up under him? Ha! Why, indeed?\nSeegwun had found the answer.\n\nThey made a rude lodge in the forest, just as they had done before. And\nagain it came bitter cold; only this time it was Seegwun that brought\nthe storm. He could not help laughing. There was the blazing fire, and\nthere on the couch was Mish-o-sha, sound asleep.\n\nSeegwun softly rose, took both the Magician's moccasins and leggings,\nand threw them into the flames.\n\n\"Get up, grandfather,\" he called. \"It's the season when fire attracts\nall things, and I fear you have lost something you may need.\"\n\nWhen Mish-o-sha saw what had happened he looked so frightened that\nSeegwun was almost sorry for him. But remembering Nin-i-mo-sha and his\nlittle brother, he could think of no other way. \"We must be going,\" he\nsaid.\n\nThey set out through the snow. My, how cold it was! Mish-o-sha began to\nrun, thinking this would help; while Seegwun followed, fearing that if\nhe led, the Magician might send an arrow through his back. After running\nfor an hour, the Magician was quite out of breath, and his legs and feet\nwere growing numb and stiff.\n\n[Illustration: 0000]\n\nThey had come to the edge of the forest, and reached the shore of the\nlake. Here Mish-o-sha stopped. When he tried to take another step, he\ncould not lift his feet. How heavy they had grown! He tried again; but\nsomething strange had happened. His toes sank into the sand, and took\nthe form of roots. The feathers in his hair, and then the hair itself,\nchanged gradually into leaves. His outstretched arms were branches,\nswaying in the wind; bark appeared on his body.\n\nSeegwun looked and wondered. That which had been Mish-o-sha was no\nlonger a man, but a tree, a sycamore hung with button-balls, leaning\ncrookedly toward the lake.\n\nAt last the wicked old Magician had met his master. No more would his\nevil spell be cast on the young and innocent Seegwun lingered a moment,\nto make sure that Mish-o-sha would not come to life. Then he took his\nway across the water, where the others, anxiously awaiting him, were\ntold the good news.\n\n\"Mish-o-sha is no more,\" said Seegwun. \"He can never harm us again. Let\nus leave this place where we have suffered so much, and make our home on\nthe mainland.\"\n\nSo together they went forth, his sweetheart, her sister, and the boy,\nwith Seegwun showing the way. The trail he took led them again to the\ngreat forest, and once more to the lodge from which he had set out. And\nthere they lived happily for the rest of their days.\n\n[Illustration: 0090]\n\n\n\n\nThe Fairy Bride\n\n[Illustration: 9090]\n\nNCE there was a lovely young girl named Neen-i-zu, the only daughter of\nan Indian chief, who lived on the shore of Lake Superior; Neen-i-zu, in\nthe Indian language, means \"My Dear Life.\" It was plain that her parents\nloved her tenderly, and did everything in their power to make her\nhappy and to shield her from any possible harm.\n\nThere was but one thing that made them uneasy. Neen-i-zu was a favorite\nwith the other young girls of the village, and joined them in their\nplay. But she liked best of all to walk by herself in the forest, or\nto follow some dim trail that led to the heart of the little hills.\nSometimes she would be absent for many hours; and when she returned, her\neyes had the look of one who has dwelt in secret places, and seen\nthings strange and mysterious. Nowadays, some persons would have called\nNeen-i-zu \"romantic.\" Others, who can never see a thing that is not just\nbeneath their noses, would have laughed a little, in a superior sort of\nway, and said she was a \"dreamer.\" What was it that Neen-i-zu saw and\nheard, during these lonely walks in the secret places of the hills? Was\nit perhaps the fairies? She did not say. But her mother, who wished her\nto be more like other girls, and who would have liked to see her marry\nand settle down, was much disturbed in mind.\n\nThe mischievous little fairies known as Puk-Wudjies were believed to\ninhabit the sand dunes where Neen-i-zu so often went to walk. These\nwere the sand-hills made by Grasshopper, when he danced so madly at\nMan-a-bo-zho's wedding,\n\n[Illustration: 0000]\n\nwhirling the sand into great drifts and mounds that may be seen to this\nvery day. The Puk-Wudjies loved these hills, which were seldom\nvisited by the Indians. It was just the place for leap-frog and\nall-hands-'round; in the twilight of summer days they were said to\ngather here in little bands, playing all manner of pranks. Then, as\nnight came, they would make haste to hide themselves in a grove of\npine-trees known as the _Manito Wac_, or the Wood of the Spirits.\n\nNo one had ever come close to them; but fishermen, paddling their\ncanoes on the lake, had caught glimpses of them from afar, and had heard\nthe tiny voices of these merry little men, as they laughed and called to\none another. When the fishermen tried to follow, the Puk-Wudjies would\nvanish in the woods; but their foot-prints, no larger than a child's,\ncould be seen on the damp sand of a little lake in the hills.\n\nIf anything more were needed to convince those doubters who did not\nbelieve in fairies, the proof was quickly supplied by fishermen and\nhunters who were victims of their tricks. The Puk-Wudjies never really\nharmed anyone, but they were up to many kinds of mischief. Sometimes\na hunter, picking up his cap in the morning, would find the feathers\nplucked out; sometimes a fisherman, missing his paddle, would discover\nit at last in a tree. When such things happened it was perfectly plain\nthat Puk-Wudjies had been up to their pranks, and few persons were still\nstupid enough to believe it could be anything else.\n\nNeen-i-zu had her own ideas concerning these little men; for she, like\nMorning Glory, had often listened to the tales that old Iagoo told. One\nof these stories was the story of a Happy Land, a far-off place where it\nwas always Summer; where no one wept or suffered sorrow.\n\nIt was for this land that she sighed. It filled her thoughts by day,\nwhen she sought the secret places of the hills, and sat in some lonely\nspot, listening to the mysterious voices that whispered in the breeze.\nWhere was this Happy Land--this place without pain or care?\n\nTired out at night, she would sink into her bed. Then from their hiding\nplaces would come stealing the small messengers of Weenz, the\nSpirit of Sleep. These kindly gnomes--too small for the human eye to\nsee--crept quickly up the face of the weary Neen-i-zu and tapped gently\non her forehead with their tiny war-clubs, called _pub-ga-mau-guns_.\nTaptap--tap!--till her eyelids closed, and she sought the Happy Land\nin that other pleasant land of dreams.\n\n[Illustration: 0093]\n\nShe, too, had seen the foot-prints of the Puk-Wudjies on the sandy beach\nof the little lake, and had heard their merry laughter ring out in the\ngrove of pines. Was it their only dwelling place, she asked herself, or\nwere they not messengers from the Happy Land, sent to show the way to\nthat mortal who believed in it, and longed to enter.\n\nNeen-i-zu came to think that this must be really so. Oftener than ever,\nshe made her way to the meadow bordering on the Spirit Wood, and sat\nthere gazing into the grove. Perhaps the Puk-Wudjies would understand,\nand tell the fairies whom they served. Then some day a fairy would\nappear at the edge of the pines, and beckon her to come. That would\nsurely happen, she thought, if she wished it long enough, and could give\nher wishes wings. So, sitting there, she composed the words of a song,\nand set it to the music the pines make when the south wind stirs their\nbranches. Then she sang:\n\n     Spirit of the laughing leaves,\n\n          Fairy of the forest pine,\n\n     Listen to the maid who grieves           For that happy land of thine.\n\n     From your haunt in summer glade      Hasten to your mournful maid.\n\nWas it only her fancy, that she seemed to hear the closing\n\n[Illustration: 0000]\n\nwords of her song echoed from the deep woods where the merry little men\nhad vanished? Or was it the Puk-Wudjies mocking her?\n\nShe had lingered later than usual; it was time to go. The new moon swung\nlow in the western sky, with its points turned upwards to the heavens.\nAn Indian would say he could hang his powder horn upon it, and that it\nmeant dry weather, when the leaves crackled under the hunter's feet, and\nthe animals fled before him, so that he was unable to come\nnear-enough to shoot. And Neen-i-zu was glad of this. In the Happy Land,\nshe declared no one would suffer, and no life would be taken.\n\nYet it was a hunter that her mother wished her to marry, a man who spent\nhis whole life in slaying the red deer of the forest; who thought and\ntalked of almost nothing else.\n\nThis came into her mind as she rose from her seat in the meadow, and\ncast a farewell glance at the pines. The rays of the crescent moon\ntouched them with a faint light; and again her fancy came into play.\nWhat was it that seemed to move along the edge of the mysterious\nwoods? Something with the dim likeness of a youth--taller than the\nPuk-Wudjies--who glided rather than walked, and whose garments of light\ngreen stood out against the darker green of the pines. Neeni-zu looked\nagain; but the moon hid behind the hills. All was black to the eye;\nto the ear came no sound but the creepy cry of the whip-poor-will. She\nhastened home.\n\nThat night she heard from her mother's lips what she had long expected\nand feared. \"Neen-i-zu,\" said her mother. \"I named you 'My dear Life,'\nand you are as dear as life to me. That is why I wish you to be safe and\nhappy. That is why I wish you to marry a good man who will take the best\ncare of you now, and will protect and comfort you when I am gone. You\nknow the man I mean.\"\n\n\"Yes, mother,\" answered Neen-i-zu. \"I know him well\n\n[Illustration: 0000]\n\nenough--as well as ever I want to know him. He hunts the deer, he kills\nthe deer, he skins the deer. That is all he does, that is all he thinks,\nthat is all he talks about. It is perhaps well that someone should do\nthis, lest we starve for want of meat. Yet there are many other things\nin the world, and this hunter of yours is content if he does but kill.\"\n\n\"Poor child!\" said her mother. \"You are too young to know what is best\nfor you.\"\n\n\"I am old enough, mother dear,\" answered Neen-i-zu, \"to know what my\nheart tells me. Besides, this hunter you would have me marry is as tall\nas a young oak, while I am not much taller than one of the Puk-Wudjies.\nWhen I stand up very straight, my head comes little higher than his\nwaist. A pretty pair we would make!\"\n\nWhat she said was quite true. Neen-i-zu had never grown to be much\nlarger than a child. She had a graceful, slender body, little hands and\nfeet, eyes black as midnight, and a mouth like a meadow flower. One who\nsaw her for the first time, passing upon the hills, her slight figure\nsketched against the sky, might have thought that she herself was a\nfairy.\n\nFor all her gentle, quiet ways, and her love of lonely places, Neen-i-zu\nwas often merry. But now she seldom laughed; her step was slow; and\nshe walked with her eyes fixed upon the ground. \"When she is married,\"\nthought her mother, \"she will have other things to occupy her mind, and\nshe will no longer go dreaming among the hills.\"\n\nBut the hills were her one great joy--the hills, and the flowery meadows\nwhere the lark swayed to and fro, bidding her be of good cheer, as he\nperched on a mullein stalk. Every afternoon she sat, singing her little\nsong. Soon she would sing no more. The setting sun would gild the pine\ngrove, the whip-poor-will would complain to the stars; but the picture\nwould be incomplete; there would be no Neen-i-zu. For the wedding day\nwas named; she must be the hunter's wife.\n\n[Illustration: 0000]\n\nOn this day set for her marriage to the man she so disliked, Neen-i-zu\nput on the garments of a bride. Never had she looked so lovely.\nBlood-red blossoms flamed in her jet-black hair; in her hand she held a\nbunch of meadow flowers mingled with the tassels of the pine.\n\nThus arrayed, she set out for a farewell visit to the grove. It was a\nthing they could not well deny her; but as she went her way, and the\nhills hid her from sight, the wedding guests looked uneasily at one\nanother. It was something they could not explain. At that moment a cloud\nblew up from nowhere, across the sun; where light had been there was\nnow a shadow. Was it a sign? They glanced sidelong at the hunter, but\nthe bridegroom was sharpening his sheath knife on a stone. Sunshine or\nshadow, his thoughts were following the deer.\n\nTime passed; but Neen-i-zu did not return. Then so late was the hour,\nthat the wedding guests wondered and bestirred themselves. What could be\nkeeping her so long? At last they searched the hills; she was not there.\nThey tracked her to the meadow, where the prints of her little moccasins\nled on and on--into the grove itself; then the tracks disappeared.\nNeen-i-zu had vanished.\n\nThey never saw her more. The next day a hunter brought them strange\nnews. He had climbed a hill, on his way home by a short cut, and had\npaused there a moment to look around. Just then his dog ran up to him,\nwhining, with its tail between its legs. It was a brave dog, he said,\nthat would not run from a bear, but this one acted as if he had seen\nsomething that was not mortal.\n\nThen the hunter heard a voice, singing. Soon the singing stopped, and he\nmade out--far off--the figure of Neen-i-zu, walking straight toward the\ngrove, with her arms held out before her. He called to her, but she did\nnot hear, and drew nearer and nearer to the Spirit wood.\n\n[Illustration: 0000]\n\n\"She walked like one who dreams,\" said the hunter, \"and when she had\nalmost reached the woods, a young man, slender as a reed, came out to\nmeet her. He was not one of our tribe. No, no! I have never seen his\nlike. He was dressed in the leaves of the forest, and green plumes\nnodded on his head. He took her by the hand. They entered the Sacred\nGrove. There is no doubt that he was a fairy--the fairy Evergreen. There\nis nothing more; I have finished.\"\n\nSo Neen-i-zu became a bride, after all.\n\n[Illustration: 0097]\n\n[Illustration: 0102]\n\n[Illustration: 0103]\n\n[Illustration: 0104]","title":"American Indian Fairy Tales","tradition":"myth-cosmogony","translated_text":null,"word_count":25204}