1 files changed, 3344 insertions, 0 deletions

diff --git a/31502.txt b/31502.txt
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..2955116
--- /dev/null
+++ b/31502.txt
@@ -0,0 +1,3344 @@
+Project Gutenberg's Two Indian Children of Long Ago, by Frances Taylor
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: Two Indian Children of Long Ago
+
+Author: Frances Taylor
+
+Release Date: March 4, 2010 [EBook #31502]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ASCII
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK TWO INDIAN CHILDREN OF LONG AGO ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Larry B. Harrison and the Online Distributed
+Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+  Two Indian Children
+  of
+  Long Ago
+
+  BY
+  FRANCES LILIAN TAYLOR
+  Author of Adventures in Storyland Readers
+
+  ILLUSTRATED BY
+  L. KATE DEAL
+
+  BECKLEY-CARDY COMPANY
+  CHICAGO
+
+
+
+
+  COPYRIGHT, 1920, BY
+  BECKLEY-CARDY COMPANY
+  ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
+
+
+  PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
+
+[Illustration]
+
+
+
+
+CONTENTS
+
+[Illustration]
+
+
+                                                  PAGE
+
+  THE FIRST AMERICANS                                7
+
+  THE WILD-RICE INDIANS                             13
+
+  STORIES AND STORY-TELLERS                         17
+
+  WELCOME TO A PAPOOSE                              21
+
+  THE INDIAN BABY AND HER CRADLE                    25
+
+  WHITE CLOUD'S FIRST RIDE                          28
+
+  NOKOMIS TELLS A STORY                             34
+
+  THE FIREFLY DANCE                                 37
+
+  SWIFT ELK, THE INDIAN BOY                         40
+
+  THE NAMING OF SWIFT ELK                           45
+
+  FIRE AND THE FIRE MAKERS                          49
+
+  THE THUNDERERS                                    56
+
+  THE LITTLE PEOPLE OF THE FOREST                   58
+
+  BLACK WOLF TELLS A STORY                          62
+
+  THE RACE BETWEEN THE CRANE AND THE HUMMING
+          BIRD                                      67
+
+  HUNTING WILD DUCKS                                70
+
+  A BRAVE DUCK                                      77
+
+  SUMMER SPORTS                                     81
+
+  THE BALL GAME                                     85
+
+  THE ANIMALS AND THE BIRDS PLAY BALL               89
+
+  GATHERING WILD RICE                               94
+
+  THE ANT AND THE KATYDID                          100
+
+  HOW WILD RICE WAS DISCOVERED                     102
+
+  MOVING THE DOLLS' CAMP                           106
+
+  FINDING A WAR FEATHER                            114
+
+  THE LYNX AND THE HARE                            117
+
+  HOW THE ANIMALS SAVED THE TRIBE                  119
+
+  WINTER EVENINGS                                  125
+
+  THE GROUND-HOG DANCE                             131
+
+  THE LUCKY HUNTER                                 134
+
+  HOW SICKNESS CAME                                140
+
+  HOW SPRING CONQUERED WINTER                      144
+
+  THE GIFT OF CORN                                 149
+
+  THE MAGIC CANOE                                  154
+
+  THE HAPPY HUNTING GROUNDS                        158
+
+  ABOUT THE BOOK                                   160
+
+
+
+
+  TWO
+  INDIAN CHILDREN
+  of LONG AGO
+
+[Illustration]
+
+
+
+
+THE FIRST AMERICANS
+
+
+We are proud of being Americans. But we must not forget that the
+Indians once owned all America, north and south and east and west.
+
+The Indians were the first Americans of whom we read. No people ever
+had a greater love for their land, and no race has ever taken more
+pleasure in out-of-door life.
+
+After Columbus found the New World, white men came from Europe to make
+their homes here. As time went on they drove the Indians farther and
+farther west and took away their hunting grounds.
+
+Let us try to imagine our country as it was when the Indians owned it.
+Can we picture our land without a house or a store or a railroad? Can
+we think of great rivers with no cities on their banks and with no
+bridges on which to cross from one side to the other?
+
+Every boy we know likes to go camping. But who would be willing to set
+up a camp far away in the deep woods without taking with him tent or
+food or blankets?
+
+Before trade with the white men began, the Indians found everything
+they needed in the wild land about them. They could make their own
+weapons and tools, their canoes and paddles, their houses and
+clothing, and even build a fire without matches.
+
+Your fathers leave home to earn money for your food and clothing. Your
+mothers see that your meals are cooked and that your clothes are
+bought or made.
+
+The Indians took care of their children in much the same way. During
+the hunting season the fathers and big brothers went away every
+morning to hunt. The men provided all the meat for their families, and
+all the skins for clothing and covers.
+
+When a deer or a bear was shot, the hunter brought it to the camp and
+threw it down. His work for the day was done--the women could do the
+rest.
+
+And it was wonderful to see what the wives and mothers could do with a
+big animal. Was there a wigwam in the tribe without food? The meat was
+shared to the last mouthful. Was there an abundance? The meat was
+dried for long keeping.
+
+Did the son need more covers for his bed? A bear's skin was finished
+like a fur rug for his comfort. Did the black-eyed daughter beg for a
+new dress? Her mother could make from the deerskin a soft garment
+beautifully trimmed with colored beads, stained quills, and fringes.
+
+But what did the Indians do when they could find no more game to shoot
+with their arrows? Why, they sent out scouts to select a better place
+to live, and the chief gave orders for every one to move.
+
+Down came the lodge poles. The trained dogs were called and loaded,
+and away they all went. Just think of a whole village moving and
+leaving nothing behind but the land!
+
+[Illustration]
+
+The Indians spent much time in feasting, dancing, and games. During
+the summer the men had little else to do, for they seldom hunted while
+the wild animals were caring for their young.
+
+Each tribe was ruled by a chief and a council of warriors. All their
+lands were held in common, and no one suffered want except when food
+was scarce for all.
+
+Every boy was watched with interest by the whole village. His first
+walking was noticed, and his first success in hunting was often
+celebrated by a feast.
+
+[Illustration]
+
+When the corn was ripe, the Indians held one of the most important
+dances of the year to show their thanks to the Great Spirit for the
+gift of corn.
+
+In times of sickness, the medicine man came with rattle and drum to
+drive away the evil spirits that were believed to have caused the
+trouble. If the sick person grew worse, Indians, with their faces
+painted black, crowded the wigwam and more medicine men were called.
+
+They drummed harder and harder. They yelled and beat their rattles,
+thinking that they were helping the sick one to recover.
+
+When anyone in the tribe died, the things he had cared for most were
+placed in his grave. There were toys for a little child, and weapons
+and blankets for a warrior. The favorite horse of a chief was often
+killed to be his companion on the journey to the land of spirits. Even
+food was carried to the burial place because the trail was long that
+led to the Happy Hunting Grounds.
+
+After many years, the early customs became greatly changed. To-day
+large numbers of Indians are living in the white man's way. Some are
+well educated and own houses, farms, and even automobiles. Their
+children are trained in government schools. There are writers among
+them whose books we like to read, and there are artists who paint
+interesting pictures of Indian life.
+
+During the great World War the Indians begged to join the army, and
+hundreds enlisted. Young men from many tribes were in France, and
+there were no braver soldiers.
+
+
+
+
+THE WILD-RICE INDIANS
+
+
+Every boy and girl who studies geography can find the Great Lakes. In
+the states south and west there are hundreds of small lakes and rivers
+where wild rice grows in the shallow water.
+
+During the early days of our country, different tribes of Indians
+gathered the wild rice for food, and many battles were fought for the
+rice fields.
+
+From the birch trees of the forest the men obtained bark for their
+canoes. In these light boats the women pushed their way through the
+thickets of ripe grain. They beat the stalks with short sticks,
+letting the rice fall into the canoes.
+
+The wild rice was eaten raw from the growing plants. It was also
+parched while green for daily use, and bushels of the ripe grain were
+stored away for the long, cold winter.
+
+[Illustration]
+
+At harvest time there was always good hunting, for great flocks of
+ducks, geese, and other birds flew to the rice stalks to eat the seeds.
+
+In the spring the women, boys, and old men spent weeks at the sugar
+camp. They caught the maple sap in small bark dishes and boiled it
+into sugar. The boys kept the fires going under the kettles and, for
+the first few days, ate nearly all the sugar they made.
+
+Many kinds of berries grew in this northern country. These the Indian
+women picked and dried. Indeed, the underground storehouse of a
+wigwam housekeeper was full of good things to eat.
+
+Hiawatha is said to have lived on the shore of one of the Great Lakes.
+Before the white men sold fire water to the Indians, there were many
+happy homes in the forest. The ways of living were the same as we read
+about in Longfellow's poem, and the children were trained to be brave
+and honorable and to respect their elders.
+
+The boys were trained in woodcraft. They learned the names and habits of
+wild animals. They could find their way alone through dense forests; and
+they could see farther and hear better than any boys we know.
+
+The girls were taught by their mothers to be modest and industrious.
+They made beautiful beadwork to trim dresses and moccasins. They could
+set up a wigwam, prepare food, and keep a clean and orderly home.
+
+This little book tells how children lived and played long ago in the
+wild-rice country. Their tribe was then at peace with the fierce
+Indians farther west. A few men of the village had traveled north with
+furs, but the children had never seen a white man.
+
+The old-time life of the Indians is ended. But there are camps in the
+unsettled lands of the wild-rice region where many strange customs can
+still be seen; where the Indian drum is heard, and the women gather
+wild rice as in the olden time.
+
+
+
+
+STORIES AND STORY-TELLERS
+
+
+The Indians of long ago had no books and no schools; but each tribe
+had its story-tellers, who went from one wigwam to another. Everywhere
+they were welcomed by old and young and begged to return.
+
+The stories were told and retold by their hearers until learned.
+Indian mothers quieted their fretful little ones by stories and songs
+just as other mothers have always done.
+
+The Indian stories are strange, and some are very beautiful. There are
+wonderful tales of the sun, moon, and stars; of animals and birds and
+trees; of the thunder and the lightning and the winds.
+
+Through stories the children learned the strange beliefs of their
+parents. They were taught to call the sun their father and the moon
+their mother, and all the animals and birds their brothers.
+
+The Indians believed that good and bad spirits were all around them on
+the earth and above them in the sky.
+
+They thought that animals and birds could talk, and that they listened
+to everything which was said in the wigwams.
+
+Tales of fearless hunters and brave warriors made the boys wish to
+become as brave as their fathers. Tales of the men that had brought
+great good to their people led the children to hope that they, too,
+might sometime bring blessings to their tribe.
+
+The children learned that their fathers worshiped the Great Spirit, and
+that no warrior ever went on the warpath without offering many prayers.
+
+They were taught that many of their dances were thank offerings to the
+Great Spirit, and that the war dance was for success in battle.
+
+In winter evenings the Indians gathered around the wigwam fire. This
+was their only light. The fathers and grandfathers told wonderful
+stories of war and hunting, and related the old tales they had heard
+when they were children.
+
+[Illustration]
+
+Night after night the boys were drilled in repeating the stories they
+had heard. The whole family listened attentively, helping all, and
+praising the one who did the best.
+
+Special training was given to the boys of the tribe who showed the most
+talent. They were carefully prepared to take the places of the older
+story-tellers, for the tribal tales must never be lost nor forgotten.
+
+The Indian belief that animals can talk is shown in many of their best
+stories. Here is one about the birds.
+
+[Illustration]
+
+
+
+
+WELCOME TO A PAPOOSE
+
+[Illustration]
+
+
+Little Wren flies here and there about the village of wigwams. She is
+the news gatherer for the bird council.
+
+She peers into the tent openings and listens to the talk of the
+mothers. She flits about the trees where children play.
+
+When a little son is born, she carries the news to the birds, and they
+are sad. "Alas, alas!" they cry. "We hear the whistle of his arrow.
+The boy will grow, and he will shoot us with his bow and arrows."
+
+But when the wren chatters about the coming of a baby girl, the birds
+chirp merrily. They sing of the grains she will scatter when she
+grinds the corn into meal.
+
+They sing of the wild rice she will let drop when she comes with her
+loaded canoe from the rice harvest. "Sing merrily, sing merrily," they
+say. "Another woman child has come to feed us!"
+
+The cricket hops in the wigwam. And the cricket is glad when the baby
+is a girl. "I shall hide among the floor mats and sing where she
+plays," he chirps.
+
+But the cricket is sad when the baby is a boy. "He will shoot me, he
+will shoot me!" chirps the cricket. For, as soon as the boy is old
+enough, he will be given a tiny bow; and he will fit the sharp arrow
+and shoot the cricket and the grasshopper.
+
+The woodpecker welcomes the girl baby. He sings of the wood worms he
+will find when the girl goes with her mother for wood. For the women
+of the wigwam break the dry branches for the fire, and the wood worms
+fall from their hiding places.
+
+But the raven rejoices at the sight of the boy baby in his cradle. "My
+food, my food!" he croaks. A hunter has come to the camp. He will
+shoot the rabbit and the squirrel and the deer; and food for the
+hungry ravens will be left where his arrows fall.
+
+The Indian father rejoices when he looks at his son. "May he grow to
+be a brave hunter and a fearless warrior." Such is the Indian's wish.
+
+[Illustration]
+
+
+
+
+THE INDIAN BABY AND HER CRADLE
+
+
+Why is the happy song of the robin heard beside the lodge? Why chirps
+the cricket so merrily?
+
+Can you not guess? There is a new daughter in the wigwam. Another wood
+gatherer and fire maker has come to the tribe.
+
+"Bring the new cradle, Nokomis. Let me have the beautiful cradle I
+have made for my little daughter." And Good Bird, the mother, points
+with pride to a strange-looking object that is not at all like the
+cradle your baby sleeps in.
+
+A straight board leans against the inner lining of the lodge. To one
+side of it is fastened a white doeskin bag which is trimmed with
+beautiful fringes and beadwork. Can this be a baby's cradle?
+
+Nokomis, the grandmother, opens the bag, which is laced down the
+middle with colored strings. She makes a bed of soft moss upon the
+hard board and lays the papoose very straight in its little frame.
+
+Laced and bound, this strange cradle is hung to the top of the lodge.
+A bow of curved wood protects the baby's head from injury, should the
+cradle fall.
+
+As the little papoose swings gently, the Indian mother sings a
+lullaby, and this is the one she often sings:
+
+    "Wa wa--wa wa--wa wa yea,
+    Swinging, swinging, lullaby.
+    Sleep thou, sleep thou, sleep thou.
+    Little daughter, lullaby.
+    Wa wa--wa wa--wa wa."
+
+Slower and slower swings the cradle and the black eyes close in sleep.
+
+"What shall we name the little one?" asks the mother.
+
+Nokomis stands in the door of the wigwam. Through the trees she sees the
+blue water of the lake. White clouds are moving rapidly across the sky.
+
+"White Cloud shall be her name," answers Nokomis.
+
+Good Bird, the mother, smiles and nods. As she watches the cradle, she
+talks to the sleeping child.
+
+"My little woman, you shall be a fire maker and a lodge keeper like
+your mother. You shall help me tan the skins for clothing. I will
+teach you to make beautiful dresses and trim them with beadwork and
+quills. Your father and your brother will be proud to wear the
+moccasins you make.
+
+"You shall go with me to the lake when the rice is ready to harvest.
+Together we will hunt the wild berries and the nuts. You shall be your
+mother's helper, my little daughter, White Cloud."
+
+
+
+
+WHITE CLOUD'S FIRST RIDE
+
+
+White Cloud, the baby daughter of Good Bird, is having her first ride
+out of doors. Do you think she is in a baby buggy like your little
+sister's? Or do you suppose her mother draws her in a tiny cart?
+
+You can never guess unless you know how Indian mothers contrive to take
+their babies with them when they are carrying heavy loads. White Cloud
+is laced in her strange cradle and bound securely to her mother's back.
+
+On the bent strip of board that arches over the head of the cradle are
+fastened playthings made of carved wood and bone. The bright toys
+jingle and rattle, and the baby laughs.
+
+To-day the little arms and hands are firmly laced inside the beaded
+bag. So the child can not reach out and play with the noisy images as
+she loves to do.
+
+Laced, bound, and protected, the baby is safe even when her mother
+pushes through the thickest forest.
+
+[Illustration]
+
+The boys, who run everywhere, have brought good news to the camp. "The
+June berries are ripe in the forest," they say. So the mothers are
+starting with children and bags for the berry picking.
+
+It is not yet sunrise; but it is the custom of the Indians to rise
+early. The men, with bows and arrows, knives and spears, have already
+gone away to their daily business--the hunt.
+
+The older lads are with their fathers, and the little boys have begun a
+long summer's day of shouting, swimming, mud throwing, and mischief.
+Among them is White Cloud's brother, a sturdy boy of four years.
+
+Here and there are old men sitting in front of their lodges and
+smoking their long pipes. Inside, the grandmothers are busy preparing
+food and dressing skins for clothing.
+
+Most of the women, like Good Bird, carry their babies and berry sacks
+upon their backs; but some of them have large dogs trained as burden
+carriers.
+
+Here comes Two Joys, the mother of twins. She is followed by a pair of
+dogs, each dragging a strapping brown baby boy.
+
+One by one, the women and girls wade the streams and climb the hills,
+following the trail that leads to the forest. There they separate,
+each to make her own choice of bushes.
+
+White Cloud's mother chooses a thicket where the berries are large and
+abundant. She fastens her baby's cradle to the top of a low tree. The
+wind swings the cradle, and, like the Mother Goose baby, the Indian
+papoose rocks on the tree top. Let us hope that the bough will not
+break.
+
+The birds chirp and sing in the branches. A squirrel comes near to see
+what strange object is hanging in his tree. The baby wakes and cries
+with fright, and the squirrel scampers away.
+
+Good Bird is filling her bags of woven grass with purple berries. She
+does not pick them as we do, but breaks off long branches loaded with
+fruit. Then, with a heavy stick, she beats the branch and the berries
+fall on a large skin that is spread on the ground.
+
+For dinner Good Bird has only dried meat and the sweet, juicy berries.
+But she does not think of wishing for more.
+
+At last the ripe fruit is gathered. The baby is fretting, and the
+mother takes the cradle from the tree top. She unlaces the bag and
+lays the little one on the warm grass.
+
+Now the fruit must be packed and tied and the large skin be rolled
+up. While the mother works the child grows restless and cries. You can
+never guess why. She is asking in baby language to be put back on her
+stiff board!
+
+Very soon Good Bird is ready and, with the cradle and bags strapped to
+her back, she starts for home. Other berry pickers loaded with fruit
+join her, and together they walk the trail that leads back to the camp.
+
+Nokomis is watching for the baby. She lifts the cradle and hangs it to
+the lodge pole. The little one is restless. She turns her head from
+side to side, her black eyes shining.
+
+Then the grandmother sings the owl song in which Indian babies delight:
+
+    "Ah wa nain, ah wa nain,
+    Who is this, who is this,
+    Giving light, light bringing
+    To the roof of my lodge?"
+
+The singer changes her voice to imitate a little screech owl and
+answers:
+
+    "It is I--the little owl--
+              Coming
+    Down! down! down!"
+
+As she sings, she springs toward the baby and down goes the little
+head. How the papoose laughs and crows! Again Nokomis sings:
+
+    "Who is this, eyelight bringing,
+      To the roof of my lodge?
+    It is I, hither swinging--
+      Dodge, baby, dodge."
+
+Over and over the lullaby is sung, now softer and now slower. The
+eyelids droop, and the little one is quiet.
+
+
+
+
+NOKOMIS TELLS A STORY
+
+
+Good Bird had prepared the evening meal, but no one came to eat it.
+Her husband, Fleet Deer, was late in returning from the hunt, and her
+little son was still shouting and running with his boy playmates.
+
+The tired baby slept, and the two women sat outside the wigwam in the
+warm June evening.
+
+"Now that I have a little daughter, I must learn all your stories,
+Nokomis," said Good Bird. "Suppose you tell one while we wait."
+
+"I heard a new one last moon," answered Nokomis. "Our village
+story-teller has traveled far from our camp. He visited another tribe
+and heard all their stories. I will tell you the tale he told about
+the first strawberries:
+
+"In the very earliest times a young girl became so angry one day that
+she ran away from home. Her family followed her, calling and
+grieving; but she would not answer their calls, nor even turn her head.
+
+[Illustration]
+
+"The great sun looked down with pity from the sky and tried to settle
+the quarrel. First he caused a patch of ripe blueberries to grow in
+her path.
+
+"The girl pushed her way through the low bushes without stooping to
+pick a berry.
+
+"Further on the sun made juicy blackberries grow by the trail, but the
+runaway paid no attention to them.
+
+"Then low trees laden with the purple June berry tempted her, but
+still she hurried on.
+
+"Every kind of berry that the sun had ever helped to grow, he placed
+in her path to cause delay, but without success.
+
+"The girl still pressed on until she saw clusters of large ripe
+strawberries growing in the grass at her feet.
+
+"She stooped to pick and to eat. Then she turned and saw that she was
+followed.
+
+"Forgetting her anger, she gathered the clusters of ripe, red berries
+and started back along the path to share them with her family.
+
+"Then she went home as if nothing had ever happened!"
+
+
+
+
+THE FIREFLY DANCE
+
+
+It is a summer evening. There is no moon, and the stars twinkle
+brightly in the sky. A half circle of Indian lodges fronts a small
+lake. Wide meadows slope to its shores.
+
+All the air is alive with lights, twinkling, whirling, sparkling.
+Thousands of fireflies are swarming above the grass.
+
+The meadow is full of Indian boys and girls, little and big, dancing
+the firefly dance. Advancing and retreating, turning and twisting,
+bowing and whirling, they imitate the moving lights about them and
+above them.
+
+In front of the lodges sit the warriors and the squaws looking on.
+
+Good Bird is watching every move of her son. He is one of the most
+active dancers on the field.
+
+"Look, Nokomis!" she says, "No boy is straighter than your grandson,
+and there is no better dancer."
+
+[Illustration]
+
+Fleet Deer says nothing, but he is thinking of the time when his son
+will take part in the war dance of his tribe.
+
+Little White Cloud stands by her mother. She has known three winters
+and is now a chubby, pretty little Indian girl.
+
+Suddenly she begins to imitate her brother. She throws out her tiny
+brown arms, turns round and round, jumps and bows, while Nokomis and
+Good Bird shout with laughter.
+
+Listen! the children are singing. What do they say? It is the song of
+the fireflies that we hear.
+
+Nokomis has chanted the same words and melody for many a lullaby, and
+she keeps time, singing the same song:
+
+    "Wau wau tay see, wau wau tay see,
+    Flitting white fire insect,
+    Waving white fire bug,
+    Give me light before I go to bed,
+    Give me light before I go to sleep!
+    Come, little dancing white fire bug,
+    Come, little flitting white fire beast,
+    Light me with your bright white flame,
+    Light me with your little candle."
+
+
+
+
+SWIFT ELK, THE INDIAN BOY
+
+
+Four years have passed since the summer evening when Good Bird watched
+her children in the firefly dance. Her son, Swift Elk, is now a tall,
+straight lad of eleven winters. His sister, four years younger, is a
+sturdy little girl, already able to help her mother in many ways.
+
+The boy is the pride of the lodge. From his earliest babyhood he has
+been trained to be strong and fearless.
+
+"Lay him very straight," his father used to say when the baby boy was
+placed on his cradle board. "Do not make his bed too soft. My son must
+grow tall and strong, for he will sometime be a great warrior."
+
+Since he could first walk he has gone with his father each day to the
+lake to take an early morning bath. Like all Indians, he learned to
+swim when he was very small, and he loves to splash and dive and play
+in the water.
+
+Do you suppose that Swift Elk dresses himself after his bath? He does
+not think clothing at all necessary except in winter.
+
+Does he help his mother in her work about the lodge? Never! "A boy does
+not do squaw's work," he says. "A boy must learn to hunt and shoot."
+
+Is he not made to mind? Is he never punished? Oh, no; he will be a
+great warrior some day, and his father says he ought not to be afraid
+of any one. And so he lives the wild, free life of the Indian boy. He
+spends his day in play, with no school, no lessons, and no work to do.
+
+When the father is at home he teaches the boy to notice very carefully
+everything he sees. He must learn the names of plants and birds. He
+must know the habits of animals and how to hunt them. Above
+everything, he must be brave and daring.
+
+While the men are away hunting, the younger boys spend the day
+shooting, fishing, swimming, and playing games. If they wish to throw
+mud balls at each other, no one scolds them for being dirty. But if
+one of them whimpers or cries, his companions will not let him play.
+So the Indian boy learns early in life to bear pain without complaint.
+
+Swift Elk's father made a little bow and arrow for his son as soon as
+he was old enough to run out of the wigwam. Each summer he received a
+larger bow and more destructive arrows.
+
+Wherever the boy goes he carries his weapon, and he is always watching
+for the chance to shoot a bird, rabbit, squirrel, or any wild animal.
+
+How his mother and grandmother praise him when he brings home game!
+"You will be a great hunter," they say. "Soon you will be able to go
+with your father to shoot bear and deer."
+
+Swift Elk sleeps on a bed of cedar boughs covered with skins. As the
+first-born son, he has the place of honor. His bed is next to his
+father's, close against the inner lining of the lodge, and nearly
+opposite the entrance.
+
+This is the boy's own place, and he is allowed to decorate it as he
+wishes. Birds' wings, feathers, and squirrels' tails show his skill in
+hunting.
+
+[Illustration]
+
+Here he keeps nearly everything that he owns. He has hung his bow and
+arrows on the lodge pole above his bed. His snowshoes, tops, and balls
+are in a bag of skin high above the reach of baby hands.
+
+Swift Elk looks forward to the time when he shall be admitted to the
+councils of his tribe and take part in their dances and yearly feasts.
+
+Like other Indian children, he has been trained to count time by
+winters, moons, and sleeps, and so he does not know his exact age. He
+has never heard of keeping birthdays; but he has had many feasts given
+in his honor, which are the same to him as a party would be to you.
+
+When an Indian boy wins a game which requires great skill, or shows
+himself brave in time of danger, his companions shout his praises.
+
+They go with him to the door of his lodge, telling of the brave deed
+he has performed. Then they sing and dance in his honor.
+
+It is expected that the women of the lodge will show their pleasure by
+giving each boy some dainty from the stores of food packed away for
+feasts.
+
+On the day that Swift Elk first shot a rabbit his father gave a feast
+for him, inviting all his relatives. But the most important
+celebration of his whole life was when he won a victory in racing and
+received his name.
+
+
+
+
+THE NAMING OF SWIFT ELK
+
+
+Unlike their sisters, Indian boys are seldom named in babyhood. Some
+are known only as the sons of their fathers. Others bear the nicknames
+given by their companions. But often a boy's name is decided upon by
+reason of some important action of his own.
+
+For the first few years of Swift Elk's life he was spoken of as the
+son of Fleet Deer. When he was quite small, he stood, one evening,
+watching the older boys race. They ran in couples, their companions
+standing on either side of the race course. There were yells of joy
+for the victors, and jeers and howls for those who were so unlucky as
+to trip or stumble in the way.
+
+A young hunter standing near noticed the shining eyes of the little
+watcher and shouted, "Give the younger boys a chance!" And so the son
+of Fleet Deer was started in the race with a boy of his own size.
+
+Once, twice, thrice, did the eager child outrun his playmate amid
+shouts and laughter. His little feet seemed to fly over the ground.
+
+"He is as swift as a young elk," said the bystanders. And before the
+racing was ended, the child was called again to the trial of speed,
+this time with an older lad. Again he was first at the goal.
+
+"He will be a runner like his father," said the warriors who had come
+near to watch the sports of their children.
+
+Fleet Deer, when a young man, was the fastest runner in his tribe. And
+now his little son had won a race and the father was proud. He walked
+slowly toward his lodge and entered the curtained opening.
+
+"Prepare a feast in honor of our son," he said to Good Bird, his wife.
+
+Standing in front of his wigwam, he called in a loud voice the names
+of his brothers and kinsmen in the camp.
+
+[Illustration]
+
+They came, one by one, entered the low doorway, and were seated in a
+circle close to the inner wall of the wigwam, some on the low beds and
+some on mats.
+
+Nokomis and Good Bird passed to each a wooden dish containing meat,
+dried berries, parched rice, and maple sugar.
+
+There were many prayers and much smoking of the long pipe which was
+passed from host to guest. Then Fleet Deer led his son to the middle
+of the wigwam. The child's face and body were painted, and his long
+hair was braided and wound around his head.
+
+"You have seen my son outrun his playmates," said the father. "You
+know that he has taken the honors of victory from a companion that is
+older and larger. One and another who watched the race have said that
+my son is like a young elk in his running.
+
+"I was but a lad, my kinsmen, when your former chief, my father, gave
+me the name I bear. He has taken the long journey to the land of
+spirits. Will you agree that his grandson bear the name of Swift Elk?"
+
+The warriors gravely bowed their heads in approval. Again the pipe was
+passed, and the smoke curled and rose in the lodge.
+
+Swift Elk, the grandson of a great chief, had earned his name.
+
+
+
+
+FIRE AND THE FIRE MAKERS
+
+
+"Are you going away, Grandmother? Take me with you."
+
+"I am on my way to the forest, White Cloud. It will be a long walk for
+you. We need dry moss and decayed wood for tinder. Some cold morning
+we shall wake and find no red coals in the ashes. Then we shall need
+some pieces of the driest of wood to kindle a new fire."
+
+"Let me go, and I will help you look for dry wood. I know I am big
+enough to be a fire maker. Haven't I seen seven winters?"
+
+So Nokomis and White Cloud started on the trail that led to the wild
+forest. There great trees had died and fallen, and the branches had
+been decaying for many moons--no one can tell how many.
+
+"Is the fire always lost when we move our camp, Grandmother?"
+
+"Not always. Some lodge keepers try to carry a few coals, and the one
+who succeeds is glad to share with others. But one person is often
+sent ahead to the new camp to make a central fire out of doors. You
+know it takes a long time to get a spark by rubbing two sticks
+together."
+
+"How did the Indians get fire in the first place? And how did fire get
+into wood?" asked White Cloud.
+
+"I will tell you, my child. I have heard all about it from the
+story-tellers.
+
+"Once there was only one fire in all the world. It was kept in a
+sacred wigwam and guarded by an old blind man.
+
+"All the Indians had heard about fire and wanted very much to get it.
+But no one knew where it was hidden.
+
+"The old man had two daughters who gathered his wood. He used only the
+driest branches, so that no smoke could be seen, and no odor from the
+burning of green boughs be lifted to the wind.
+
+"But one day a tiny, curling wreath of smoke rose above the lodge
+opening.
+
+"Of course the birds saw it, and flew over the lodge poles until they
+discovered the secret. You may be sure that they chirped the news
+wherever they flew.
+
+"A woodpecker went into a hole in a tree to carry his mate some food
+and told her where fire was kept. He was overheard by a squirrel
+running up the tree trunk.
+
+"'Chip, chip! chatter, chatter! Hear the squirrels in the tree tops,'
+said a rabbit. 'What are they talking about?' By listening he soon
+found out.
+
+"Then Bruin heard the rabbits, and the bear teased the wolf by letting
+him know that the birds had a great secret.
+
+"A flock of sparrows settled in front of the wolf's den, and the wolf
+soon heard all he wanted to know. He, in turn, told a dog that
+sometimes ran with him at night.
+
+"Of course the dog told the boy he loved best, and so the Indians
+found out where fire was hidden.
+
+"'We must have fire,' they said. 'Who will get it for us?'
+
+"At last Manabush said that he would try to get fire for his tribe.
+
+"Manabush was a daring young Indian hunter. Like Hiawatha, he spent his
+life trying to help his people. He saw how fire was needed to warm the
+lodges in winter, and to cook the raw meat freshly killed in the hunt.
+
+"So Manabush made a birch canoe and started across the great lake.
+When he reached land he pulled his light canoe out of the water and
+carried it on his back to a near-by thicket. Then he changed himself
+into a rabbit and hopped away into the long grass.
+
+"Soon there came up a great storm. The old man guarded the sacred fire
+with the utmost care until the rain was over. Then he went to sleep
+near the glowing coals.
+
+"His daughters came out of the lodge to look at the sky. As they bent
+down to enter the low door, they saw a little rabbit lying on the
+grass. His fur was wet, and he was trembling with cold.
+
+"One of the daughters carried him in and laid him down where it was
+warm. The rabbit hopped nearer the fire.
+
+"The old man started from his sleep. 'What do I hear?' he asked.
+
+"'You have heard nothing, Father. We picked up a little wet rabbit and
+brought him in to dry.'
+
+"The old man closed his eyes again. His daughters turned and went on
+with their work. Quickly the rabbit seized a burning stick and hopped
+away by leaps and bounds.
+
+"Up jumped the old man. 'My fire, my sacred fire, is stolen!' he
+cried. His daughters ran out of the lodge to chase the thief.
+
+"But the old blind man thought that someone was in the wigwam. So he
+snatched a long stick and pounded so hard on every side that he beat
+some of the fire into a log. This is the way that fire came to be in
+wood."
+
+[Illustration]
+
+"What did the rabbit do, Grandmother?"
+
+"He ran to the canoe, changed back to a man, put the fire in a magic
+bag, and paddled as fast as he could to his own camp.
+
+"There he lighted a pile of wood for his grandmother, and then hurried
+away to the Thunderers. They have kept the sacred fire for the Indians
+since that day."
+
+"Who are the Thunderers, Grandmother?" asked White Cloud.
+
+"After we have had our dinner I will tell you the story. Now we will
+use some of our dry wood and make a fire."
+
+"Can I learn to get the fire out of wood?" asked White Cloud.
+
+"You will need to try again and again, for it is not an easy task.
+Watch me, my child, and see how it is done."
+
+Nokomis soon had a pile of dry grass and twigs. Then she rubbed two
+pieces of wood together for a long time. At last a spark flew from the
+dry wood and the grass was lighted.
+
+Meat and birds' eggs were soon roasted in the hot ashes. After the
+meal Nokomis and White Cloud started for home, each with a bundle of
+wood strapped to her back.
+
+"Now I'm ready for the story you promised me," said White Cloud.
+
+
+
+
+THE THUNDERERS
+
+
+"Far in the east, above the sky, the great Thunderer lives with his
+two sons. They are the friends of the whole world. When you hear their
+voices be glad, for they are bringing the gift of rain.
+
+"In the spring they come from their sky home with the showers that
+make the grass grow and the little plants peep out of the ground.
+
+"They water the earth; and the corn comes up, the sap flows for our
+sugar, the trees open their leaves and blossoms, and the berries ripen.
+
+"Without their help every growing plant would turn brown and fade away.
+The wild rice and the sugar trees would die. Animals would search in
+vain for food, and they would crawl into their dens and perish.
+
+"There would be no game for the hunter to shoot. Then the terrible
+famine spirits would enter our lodges, and we would sicken and die.
+
+"We should never fear the loud voices of the Thunderers, for they are
+always good and kind.
+
+"They are the war chiefs of the world. When we see the rainbow, we
+catch a glimpse of the splendid robes they wear.
+
+"In the middle of their great lodge burns the sacred fire, which they
+guard for all the people of the earth."
+
+"I will never be afraid again when I hear them speaking," said White
+Cloud. "But I like to be in the lodge when they bring their rain
+storms. If they come to-day perhaps we can find a cave in the hills
+our trail crosses."
+
+"It would not be safe for us to enter a cave in the forest," replied
+Nokomis. "The Little People might be in it, and they would be
+displeased."
+
+
+
+
+THE LITTLE PEOPLE OF THE FOREST
+
+
+"And now," said White Cloud, "I want to hear all about the Little
+People."
+
+"Speak low, White Cloud. We are coming to the rocky hillside. We must
+listen, for we may hear them drumming."
+
+"I wish we could! We would run and try to see them."
+
+"It would be far better for us to turn and run the other way. The
+Little People do not like to be disturbed. If they should see us, they
+might cast a spell on us."
+
+"What harm would that do us?" asked the child.
+
+"We would forget where we are going and who we are. We might wander in
+the woods until we starved, for we could never find the trail home."
+
+"How do the Little People look, and what do they do? Does anyone know?"
+
+"They are handsome little men, smaller than the tiniest babies. By
+daylight they drum and dance, for they are very fond of music.
+
+[Illustration]
+
+"If they are not disturbed, they are very kind and helpful, especially
+to those who are in trouble. They do not like to be seen, and will
+never work if a man or woman, or even a child, is in sight.
+
+"Sometimes they come to the cornfield when it is very dark. If they are
+heard, no Indian goes out of the lodge. Often the field will be found
+well weeded in the morning and the earth loose about the growing plants.
+
+"Once, in the moon of ripe corn, there was a woman alone with a sick
+child. She heard the Little People near her lodge, and she remembered
+to be very quiet. In the morning her corn was all picked for her.
+
+"If a hunter finds an arrow near the cornfield, he must say very loud:
+'Little People, will you let me have this arrow?' for it may have been
+shot from their bows.
+
+"If he takes it without asking, he may be hit with stones as he is
+walking home."
+
+"Tell me about the boy who was changed into a hunter spirit," said
+White Cloud.
+
+"There was once a boy," began Nokomis, "who ran away from home. He
+grew smaller and smaller until he became like the spirits of the woods.
+
+"But he is full of mischief. You can sometimes tell what he is doing,
+although he himself is never seen.
+
+"Have you not noticed your dog jump up quickly from the place where he
+has been sleeping? The spirit of the runaway boy is whipping him with
+nettles.
+
+"You will often see a flock of birds suddenly leave their food and fly
+away. The little hunter spirit has frightened them.
+
+"When the tired hunter stops, far from his lodge, to roast his meat,
+the little mischief-maker blows out his fire and fans the smoke into
+his eyes.
+
+"He catches the arrows which are aimed at the birds and hides them. He
+puts slippery clay in the path and laughs when the children fall. No
+one can tell all his tricks of mischief."
+
+"Grandmother, look! Here is an arrow on the ground."
+
+"Let it be. We will not annoy the spirits. Now we must hurry home, for
+the clouds darken and I can hear the loud voices of the Thunderers
+starting out from their sky home."
+
+
+
+
+BLACK WOLF TELLS A STORY
+
+
+The boys were practicing with their bows and arrows. After a few
+trials, in which little skill was shown, Swift Elk threw down his bow.
+"I'm tired of shooting," he said. "Come on, boys, let's go to the lake
+for a swim."
+
+Black Wolf, the oldest warrior of the tribe, was sitting on the ground
+near by, watching the sport.
+
+"Do not give up," said the old man. "You are a big boy now. Only by
+skill in shooting can you become a brave warrior. Let no one know you
+are tired or weak. Remember the boy who was changed to the lone
+lightning of the North."
+
+"Tell us the story," Swift Elk begged. "Then we will practice again
+and do our best."
+
+The boys threw themselves on the ground near Black Wolf, and he began
+the story.
+
+"There was once a little boy who had no one to care for him. His father
+had been killed in war, and his mother taken captive by the enemy.
+
+"Minno, the lonely boy, lived in his uncle's wigwam, but he was not
+wanted there. He had hard work to do and very little to eat.
+
+"He was too weak to join the rough games of his playmates, and he did
+not become skillful with his bow and arrows like the other boys of the
+tribe.
+
+"At last he became so thin from hunger that the uncle feared his cruel
+treatment would become known.
+
+"So he told his wife to feed the boy with bear's meat. 'Give him
+plenty of fat,' he ordered. 'Cram him with bear's fat.' It was now the
+uncle's plan to kill the boy by overfeeding.
+
+"One day when Minno had been nearly choked with fat meat, he ran away.
+He wandered about in the woods, and when night came he was afraid of
+the wild beasts. So he climbed into a tall tree and fell asleep in
+the branches.
+
+"In his dreams a person came to him from the upper sky and said: 'My
+poor little lad, I pity you. Follow me, and be sure to step in my
+tracks.'
+
+"So the lad arose and followed his guide up, up, into the upper sky.
+There he was given twelve magic arrows and told to shoot the manitoes
+of the North.
+
+"'They are the evil spirits of the air,' said his guide. 'You must go
+to war against them. I have given you magic arrows that will kill them
+if your aim is true.'
+
+"The boy placed an arrow with great care, but failed to kill a manito.
+One, two, three, four, five, six arrows had left his bow, each leaving
+behind it a long streak of lightning. But not one had reached its mark.
+
+"Carefully he aimed; seven, eight, nine, ten, eleven. Alas! his skill
+was not equal to his task.
+
+[Illustration]
+
+"Long he held the twelfth arrow. He looked around on every side. The
+evil spirits had wonderful power, and they could change their forms in
+a moment.
+
+"The boy let his last arrow fly toward the heart of the chief of the
+manitoes. But the evil spirit saw it coming and changed himself into a
+rock.
+
+"'How dare you try to kill me!' cried the angry manito. 'Now you shall
+suffer. You shall evermore be like the trail of your arrow.'
+
+"And he changed the boy into the lone lightning which you so often
+see, my children, in the northern sky."
+
+"I wish I could shoot as well as I can run," Swift Elk said. "It is
+easy to win in the races, but I can never beat in a shooting match."
+
+"You can if you will practice more than the other boys. You remember
+how the crane beat the humming bird in a race."
+
+"Tell us about it, tell us," begged all the boys. "Then we will shoot
+our arrows all day long until the sun hides his face."
+
+The old man was silent for a time. Then he said, "I will tell you just
+one more story. And you shall keep your word and practice until the
+darkness creeps over the earth."
+
+
+
+
+THE RACE BETWEEN THE CRANE AND THE HUMMING BIRD
+
+[Illustration]
+
+
+The crane dared the humming bird to a race. The humming bird was as
+swift as an arrow, but the crane flew slowly.
+
+At the word they both started. The humming bird was far ahead and he
+stopped to roost on a limb; but the crane flew all night.
+
+The humming bird woke in the morning, thinking it would be no trouble
+to win the race. He was very much surprised when he passed the crane
+spearing fish for his breakfast!
+
+"How did the Slow One get ahead?" he thought. "I must start earlier
+in the morning." He flew swiftly until dusk, when he stopped to roost
+on a tree.
+
+The crane flew all night. Before morning he was again ahead, and he
+had finished his breakfast when the Swift One passed him.
+
+"This is indeed strange," thought the humming bird. "But I can fly a
+little faster, and it will be no trouble to win." So he stopped again,
+far ahead, to take his usual sleep.
+
+The crane flew all night, as usual. He passed the sleeping humming
+bird at midnight and was well on his way before he was overtaken. The
+humming bird flew as long as he could see, and before midnight he was
+again ahead.
+
+Each night the humming bird slept. Each night the crane flew. "Gaining
+a little; gaining a little!" he said to himself.
+
+Later and later in the day did the Swift One pass the Slow One.
+Earlier and earlier in the night did the Slow One pass the Swift One.
+
+On the last day of the race the crane was a night's travel ahead. He
+took his time at breakfast. The humming bird passed him at sundown and
+stopped to sleep.
+
+The next morning the humming bird flew like the wind and reached the
+goal early in the day. But there stood the heavy crane waiting, for he
+had flown all night!
+
+
+
+
+HUNTING WILD DUCKS
+
+
+Swift Elk had sharpened his arrows and taken his strongest bow from
+the wooden peg over his bed.
+
+"I have seen wild ducks flying by the lake," he said. "I am going to
+hide in the long grass and watch for them. If they come again, they
+shall feel my arrows. To-night we eat roast duck."
+
+The boy ran toward the lake. His sister, White Cloud, watched him
+until he was out of sight. "Why can't girls go hunting?" she said. "I
+have seen seven winters. I shall follow his trail."
+
+The child ran along, hiding behind trees and bushes, and stepping
+softly so that no broken twig could tell of her approach.
+
+Indian children can see farther and hear far better than we can.
+Although the old-time Indian never went to school, yet he trained his
+children to listen to every sound in the forest, and to notice all
+signs of animal life.
+
+When White Cloud was near the lake, she hid in a clump of bushes and
+watched. Just in sight was a little stream winding through the low
+meadow.
+
+She saw Swift Elk run along its banks. She waited without
+moving--waited as only an Indian child knows how to wait.
+
+At last, far off, she saw a speck in the sky, then another and
+another. The specks grew larger. She held her breath.
+
+A flock of wild ducks flew across the lake. Near the shore they turned
+and flew over the low meadow where the boy hunter was hiding in the
+high grass.
+
+Suddenly the swift arrows flew. One, two, three, four ducks were hit
+and fell to the ground. Swift Elk picked up three and swung them over
+his shoulder.
+
+He looked a long time for the fourth duck. Then, seeing another flock
+approaching, he ran toward the lake shore.
+
+Again he was fortunate in choosing the place of their approach. White
+Cloud saw more arrows fly, and more ducks fall. Swift Elk ran on out
+of sight.
+
+Then the little girl crawled from her hiding-place and crept along the
+ground in search of the missing duck. Surely there was something
+stirring in the long grass ahead. Almost afraid to move, the child
+crept closer and closer, until she saw a duck with a broken wing
+hanging useless by its side.
+
+In a moment she had caught it. She held the bird in her arms until its
+struggles ceased. Then she bound its wing to its body with long pieces
+of grass.
+
+She crawled to the stream and dropped water in its bill. The duck
+swallowed the water but refused all food.
+
+White Cloud watched every movement in the distance, not daring to
+stand lest Swift Elk return. So she worked her way, concealed by high
+grass, to the home trail.
+
+How she ran until she reached the low wigwam built for her dolls! Here
+she made a soft bed for the wounded bird. She smoothed its feathers
+and talked to it. How happy she was when she was able to coax the duck
+to eat the food she offered!
+
+Swift Elk came home at night with all the game he could carry. His
+mother praised his hunting, and his father was pleased because he had
+passed the entire day alone and without a mouthful of food.
+
+"You must endure hunger and thirst, cold and heat, danger and pain, if
+you would become a great warrior," said his father. "And you must find
+your way alone through the forest for miles and miles, listening every
+moment for the footsteps of an enemy or the approach of a wild beast."
+
+A fire had been made in front of the lodge. The ducks were buried,
+feathers and all, in the hot ashes. White Cloud brought wild berries
+and water from the spring. As soon as the birds were roasted the
+feathers and skins were pulled off and the hungry boy enjoyed his meal.
+
+But White Cloud watched her chance to carry part of her own food to
+the duck. How she hated to leave him when the dark came on! But she
+fastened the shelter securely, hoping that no lurking fox or weasel
+would force his way inside.
+
+The next morning White Cloud was up before her brother. She hid in the
+tiny lodge, to protect her pet until Swift Elk had left for the day.
+
+The duck soon became so tame that it followed her wherever she went.
+The difficulty in taming the wild creature, and the constant danger of
+losing it, led the child to be as kind and patient with her pet as an
+Indian mother is with her papoose.
+
+One day Good Bird was roasting deer meat. She had made a hot fire in
+front of the lodge. Sticks sharpened at both ends were driven in the
+ground close to the bed of coals. The sticks were bent toward the
+fire, and each one held a large piece of raw meat.
+
+[Illustration]
+
+When the meat was tender, Good Bird called her little daughter. "My
+father is old," she said. "He can no longer hunt. Take some of this
+roast meat to him."
+
+White Cloud took the dish and went to her grandfather's lodge, the
+duck waddling behind her. After the old man had eaten, White Cloud
+said, "Grandfather, do you know any stories about ducks?"
+
+"Point to the north, my grandchild, and tell me who live in the land
+of ice and snow."
+
+"North Wind and Old Winter," answered the child.
+
+"And what do they do, little one?"
+
+"They send the game far from my father's arrows. They freeze our food
+and try to starve us. North Wind gives the war whoop as he flies in
+the forest.
+
+"Then Old Winter comes like the Indians on the war trail. We cannot
+see him, and we cannot hear him. He does not break a twig, and his
+footsteps make no sound. He crowds into our lodge, and tries to steal
+our fire and freeze us. I wish he would never come again!"
+
+"We must be brave, my grandchild. We must make ready with food and
+firewood to fight his power. I will tell you of a brave little duck
+that even North Wind could not conquer."
+
+
+
+
+A BRAVE DUCK
+
+
+Far to the north lived Wild Duck. His lodge was by the frozen lake.
+Winter was beginning, and he had but four logs of wood for his fire.
+
+"Four logs will do," he said. "Each log will burn for many sleeps, and
+then spring will be on the way."
+
+Wild Duck was as brave as a warrior. On the coldest days he went to
+the lake to fish. He found the rushes that grew high above the water.
+With his strong bill he pulled up the frozen plant stems. Then he
+dived through the holes he had made in the ice and caught the fish
+swimming beneath.
+
+In this way he found plenty of food. Every day he went home to his
+lodge dragging strings of fish. North Wind blew his fiercest blasts,
+but no wind was cold enough to keep Wild Duck in his wigwam.
+
+"This is a strange duck!" said North Wind. "He seems as happy as if
+it were the moon of strawberries. He is hard to conquer, but I will
+freeze him."
+
+So the wind blew colder and colder, and great drifts of snow were
+piled up about the wigwam. But still the fire burned brightly. The
+duck went daily to the lake, and daily he brought home fish.
+
+"Soon I will visit him," said North Wind. "Then he shall feel my power."
+
+That very night North Wind went to the door of the wigwam. He lifted
+the curtain and looked in.
+
+Wild Duck had cooked his fish and was lying before the bright fire. He
+was singing a song to his enemy.
+
+"You may blow as hard as you can, North Wind," he sang. "I dare you to
+freeze me. You may pile the snow to the top of my lodge. I shall climb
+the drifts and go fishing just the same."
+
+"How dare a little duck sing like this about me?" blustered North Wind.
+"I will enter. I will blow my cold breath upon him, and he will freeze."
+
+North Wind pushed his way through the door and sat down on the
+opposite side of the lodge. Cold blasts filled the hut.
+
+Was Wild Duck afraid? He got up and poked the fire, singing his song
+louder and louder. Not once did he look at his guest.
+
+"Does he not know that I am here?" thought North Wind.
+
+The little duck stirred the great log until it crackled and snapped.
+
+"I cannot stand this heat," said North Wind to himself. "I am melting. I
+must go out." The water was dripping from his hair, and tears ran down
+his cheeks. He crept out of the wigwam and left Wild Duck to his songs.
+
+"What a wonderful duck!" he said. "I cannot freeze him, I cannot even
+stop his singing. The spirit of the fire is helping him, and I will
+let him alone."
+
+And to this day you can see the wild duck fishing where the rushes
+grow. He is warm in his coat of thick feathers, and North Wind can
+never freeze the brave little duck.
+
+[Illustration]
+
+
+
+
+SUMMER SPORTS
+
+
+Swift Elk and his companions were cutting great chunks of clay from
+the bank near the stream. Soon a crowd of boys, each armed with a
+large piece of clay and a long green switch, ran shouting to the
+near-by forest.
+
+Here they divided into two bands for a sham battle, and all hid behind
+trees. Balls of clay were pressed on the ends of the slender sticks
+and thrown, as you would throw green apples.
+
+Swift Elk ran out from behind the tree where he had been hiding.
+Quickly he threw mud balls at every boy that he saw peeping at him.
+
+Other boys rushed from their sheltering tree trunks to dare the
+opposing forces. A shower of mud balls filled the air. There were
+shouts and war whoops, advances and retreats.
+
+Dogs, barking and jumping, rushed into battle with their masters.
+
+When the clay was all used, the boys ran to the bank for more. For
+half a day the fight went on, many prisoners being taken on both sides.
+
+Here and there were young braves who had been hit in the face and
+badly hurt. One was suffering great pain with a swollen eye.
+
+Do you think he left the game and ran home? Do you think he cried or
+told tales? A boy would rather stand pain than be laughed at by his
+companions. "Tears are for girls and women," they had all heard their
+fathers say. "A warrior must not notice pain."
+
+At last, heated and mud-stained, they ran to the lake and jumped in.
+You would have thought they all needed a bath, could you have seen them.
+
+Splashing and swimming, diving and yelling, they continued their
+battle by wrestling in the water. The day wore on. One by one, tired
+with action, they left the lake. Some lay on the grass, and others
+made images of animals with soft clay.
+
+[Illustration]
+
+Two or three boys, very hungry, shot some birds, made a fire, and
+roasted their game. It mattered not to them that their food was far
+from clean.
+
+Before they went home at night, Swift Elk's band dared the other side
+to a ball game, to be played the next morning.
+
+"Let us ask Black Wolf to watch our game," said Swift Elk. All agreed.
+The old warrior could not go on the long hunt or the warpath, and
+nothing gave him greater pleasure than to help the boys and young men
+in their games of strength or skill.
+
+[Illustration]
+
+
+
+
+THE BALL GAME
+
+
+Early in the morning the boys met on the level piece of ground that
+had been selected for the game. At each end of the field two upright
+poles, a little distance apart, were erected for goal sticks.
+
+In the great ball games played by the men, each side is allowed but
+one goal stick, which must be hit by the ball. As this is very
+difficult, Black Wolf helped the boys set up two very long sticks,
+between which the winner's ball was to be thrown.
+
+Each player always carries a ball stick bent at one end into a small
+hoop or ring. Strips of rawhide are passed through holes in the hoop,
+making a netted pocket in which the ball may rest half hidden.
+
+The one simple rule that each player follows at all times is: "Keep
+the ball away from your own goal." Only by sending the ball off the
+field between the two goal sticks of the opposite side can victory be
+won.
+
+Swift Elk and Antelope were chosen captains because they were good
+runners. All the best players stood in the middle of the field. The
+younger boys were grouped about the goal sticks with orders to send
+the ball back into the field.
+
+At a signal from Black Wolf, Antelope tossed the ball into the air. It
+was caught by a player on his own side, who started to run in the
+opposite direction from his own goal sticks.
+
+The ball was knocked out of his hand and thrown the other way. Back
+and forth it went until Antelope caught it in his ball stick. He
+started at full speed toward the goal on Swift Elk's side.
+
+In a moment he was caught and the ball again turned. Running,
+screaming, throwing, pushing, striking each other's arms with ball
+sticks, the boys rushed together.
+
+At last Antelope's side gained the advantage. Nearer and nearer the
+ball came to Swift Elk's goal sticks. One strong throw, and the game
+would be won. Antelope's players danced and yelled with joy.
+
+Suddenly a younger boy, one of the poor players who was made to stand
+on guard, caught the ball and sent it whizzing toward Swift Elk.
+
+The other side, sure of success, was taken by surprise. Before
+Antelope could turn, Swift Elk had the start and was speeding toward
+the opposite goal.
+
+"Never was there a finer race," Black Wolf thought. All the boys had
+crowded together at one end of the line to see the victory, leaving an
+open field for the two fleetest runners.
+
+You would have liked to see the two Indian lads with painted bodies
+running like the wind. They were followed by a crowd of boys shouting,
+howling, rushing, pushing, and trying in vain to overtake them.
+
+But not even Antelope could regain the advantage he lost in starting.
+Swift Elk swung his stick and sent the ball spinning between the two
+poles of the goal. He had won the game for his side.
+
+After the victors had shouted themselves hoarse, they lay down on the
+ground near Black Wolf and asked for a story.
+
+"I will tell you," said the old man, "of the most wonderful ball game
+the world ever saw. It happened long ago when the animals ruled the
+land and there were no people on the earth."
+
+
+
+
+THE ANIMALS AND THE BIRDS PLAY BALL
+
+
+Once the animals dared the birds to play a game of ball with them. The
+birds chose the eagle for their captain, and the animals chose the bear.
+
+They all talked at the same time, trying to make their plans. When
+should they play? Where should they play? "Leave that to the eagle and
+the bear," said the deer. And all agreed.
+
+At the appointed time the animals met on a smooth, grassy plain and
+the birds in a tree top near by.
+
+Captain Bear was so large and heavy that he could pull down anyone who
+came in his way. All along the trail to the ball ground he tossed up
+great logs to show his strength; and he bragged of what he would do to
+the birds when the game began.
+
+The turtle, at that time, was very much larger than he is now. His
+shell was so hard that the heaviest blows could not hurt him.
+
+[Illustration]
+
+He, too, was a great brag. Again and again he rose on his hind feet
+and dropped heavily to the ground. "Look at me," he said. "See how I
+will crush any bird that tries to take the ball from me." The swift
+deer, the mountain goat, and the rabbit were at their best speed.
+Indeed, the animals had a fine team.
+
+The eagle gathered his forces together. There was the hawk, strong and
+swift, and the wild geese that can fly without resting. The black
+martin was there and the crow, with a host of other birds. The blue
+jay was chosen to scream in the ears of the animal players, and the
+humming bird to fly in their eyes.
+
+The birds looked at the great animals on the field below, and were
+afraid. Just then two little things hardly larger than field mice
+climbed the tree where sat the bird captain.
+
+They begged to join the game.
+
+"You have four feet; why do you not go to the animals, where you
+belong?" asked the eagle.
+
+"We did," said the little things, "but they drove us off because we
+are so small."
+
+"Let them play, let them play," called out the birds in pity.
+
+But how could they join the birds when they had no wings? The eagle
+and the hawk consulted, and it was decided to make wings for the
+little fellows. What could they find for wings?
+
+At last someone remembered the drum they used in their dances. The
+head was made of ground-hog skin. So they took the drumhead, cut two
+wings, and made the bat.
+
+Then they threw the ball to him. The bat dodged and circled about,
+keeping the ball always in the air; and the birds soon saw that he
+would be one of their best men.
+
+The other little animal came for wings, but there was no more leather.
+What could be done? Two birds thought they might enable him to fly by
+stretching his skin. Thus was the flying squirrel made.
+
+To try him, the bird captain threw up the ball. The flying squirrel
+sprang off the limb after it, caught it in his teeth, and carried it
+to another tree below.
+
+All were now ready. The signal was given and the game began. At the
+first toss the flying squirrel caught the ball and carried it up a
+tree. He threw it to the birds, who kept it in the air for some time,
+until it dropped.
+
+The bear rushed to get it, but the martin darted after it and threw
+it to the bat. By dodging and doubling, the bat kept it out of the way
+of the swift deer. And now the game was close. The great deer could
+not turn as quickly as the bat, and so he lost the game. The little
+bat threw the ball between the posts and won the victory for the birds.
+
+And the bear and the turtle, who had done the most bragging, did not
+have a chance even to touch the ball.
+
+For saving the ball when it dropped, the martin was given a gourd to
+build his nest in. And he still has it, for you can often see a gourd
+on a post near the Indian lodges.
+
+
+
+
+GATHERING WILD RICE
+
+
+"Have you seen the beautiful new canoe father has just finished?"
+asked White Cloud.
+
+"Seen it! I helped make it," answered Swift Elk. "I cut nearly all the
+birch bark."
+
+"Your father has it ready for the wild-rice harvest," said Good Bird.
+"To-day I go to tie the stalks. You are to help me, White Cloud."
+
+Nothing could have pleased the little girl better. All summer she had
+hoped for this great pleasure. From a low hill near her home she had
+watched the growth of the rice.
+
+When the June berries were ripe, the first shoots came up near the
+shore of the lake. In a few weeks the rice beds looked like beautiful
+green islands in the water.
+
+And when the yellow-green blossoms opened, she coaxed her father to
+take her in his canoe to the rice plants. She picked the flowers,
+shaded with reddish purple, and she saw the spreading mass of
+blossoms, their straw-colored anthers moving with every breeze.
+
+Swift Elk was very proud of the new canoe. He had made the paddles,
+and had cut the forked sticks that would be needed to force the boat
+through the shallow water.
+
+"When the rice is ripe, I'll go with you and manage the boat," he said
+to his mother. "When you come home to-night, White Cloud, bring some
+green rice to parch for supper."
+
+"I'll have some all ready for you," promised his sister. "You shoot a
+deer to-day, and to-night we'll have a feast. We'll ask grandfather,
+and perhaps he'll tell us a story."
+
+Soon Good Bird was paddling rapidly toward the rice beds. It was a
+beautiful morning, and White Cloud was as happy as any little girl
+could ever be.
+
+For many weeks she had helped her mother prepare the string for tying
+the rice stalks. It was cut from the inner bark of the basswood tree.
+The narrow bands were wound in a ball so large that the child could
+hardly reach around it.
+
+"Why do you tie the wild rice stalks, Mother?" she asked.
+
+"So that our little brothers, the birds, can not eat all our grain,"
+answered Good Bird. "All the bunches we have tied are our own, and
+will be more easily harvested. No friendly Indian ever touches the
+heads of rice bound together by another."
+
+With a curved stick Good Bird pulled a mass of stalks within her reach
+and bound the heads firmly together with the narrow strips of bark.
+For hours she worked, forcing her way through the thick mass of water
+plants and tying the stalks on both sides of the canoe.
+
+"May I come here again with you when the wild rice is ripe?" asked
+White Cloud.
+
+"It will take two strong women to gather the harvest, my child; but
+the canoe is very long and I think you can help."
+
+[Illustration]
+
+"How is it done, Mother?" asked the child.
+
+"Swift Elk will sit at one end of the canoe and paddle. Nokomis will
+bend the stalks over the boat and untie the long pieces of bark, and I
+shall beat the heads with a stick. The grain will fall until the boat
+holds as much as it is safe to carry."
+
+"Are we going to take home any to-day?" asked White Cloud.
+
+"Oh, yes; when the rice is not quite ripe it is just right for
+parching. As soon as my rows are all tied, you shall help me gather
+the greenish kernels."
+
+Good Bird worked until she had used all her string. The long rows of
+heads, neatly tied, looked very fine.
+
+New plants were found, and the stalks beaten with a stick. The rice
+fell into the canoe, and White Cloud found it was good to eat even
+without cooking. By sunset the bottom of the canoe was covered with
+grain, and they started home across the quiet lake.
+
+"May we have maple sugar with our rice to-night, Mother?"
+
+"There is very little left, my daughter. I think we would better save
+it for winter."
+
+"When are we going to the sugar trees to make more?"
+
+"After the winter is nearly over and the first crow comes to tell us
+that the sap is flowing. Then we will move to our sugar lodge and stay
+for a whole moon."
+
+"May I take care of a kettle and boil sugar next time we go to the
+lodge?" asked White Cloud, "By that time I can count eight winters."
+
+"You may if you will cut birch bark and make your own sap dishes. You
+will need a great many."
+
+"Why can't we eat the sugar we have, Mother? What is the use of saving
+it?"
+
+"There may be little food on the cold, snowy days that are coming. We
+shall need the sugar more then than we do now. Have you forgotten the
+story of the ant and the katydid?"
+
+"Tell it again. Tell it now before we get home, Mother."
+
+"I think there is time, as it is a short story," said Good Bird. And
+White Cloud listened to the tale of the lazy katydid and the
+hard-working ant while the canoe moved slowly across the quiet lake.
+
+
+
+
+THE ANT AND THE KATYDID
+
+
+The oldest ant was building an underground home. Through the long
+summer days she worked, carrying out a grain of sand at a time. Then
+she filled her storehouse with food for the winter.
+
+Her work was finished just as the frost came to mow down the growing
+plants. All summer the katydid called from the trees, and the locust
+danced and buzzed in the sunshine.
+
+When winter came, the oldest ant was warm and comfortable and she had
+enough food for her daily needs.
+
+But the locust and the katydid were cold and hungry. "Why should we
+freeze?" chirped the katydid. "The ant has a warm house." "And why
+should we be hungry?" said the locust. "The ant has plenty of food."
+So together they went to the home of the oldest ant.
+
+"Let us in, let us in, kind ant," they cried. "We are cold and hungry."
+
+"What did you do through the warm weather?" asked the oldest ant.
+
+"We played in the sunshine. We chirped and buzzed and sang."
+
+"Did you build no lodge? Could you not store food for the time of
+frost and storm?"
+
+"We had no need to work when the summer was here with its warmth and
+beauty. We danced away the happy hours."
+
+"Go dance away the winter, then," said the oldest ant. "I worked hard
+through all the long summer days, and I had no time to dance or sing."
+
+The locust and the katydid turned away shivering. "It is not fair,"
+they said, "that the ant has plenty and we have nothing. She should be
+forced to let us in."
+
+
+
+
+HOW WILD RICE WAS DISCOVERED
+
+
+When Good Bird and White Cloud reached home, they found great
+rejoicing. Swift Elk had shot his first deer, and the meat was already
+roasting by an outdoor fire.
+
+The hunters had found game in abundance that day, and many feasts were
+already called in the village.
+
+Swift Elk had chosen to invite only his grandparents, and they were
+already listening to his story of the hunt.
+
+White Cloud made haste to parch the rice, and soon a very hungry
+family was enjoying the fresh and abundant food.
+
+After the supper the children asked their grandfather to tell them
+stories about wild rice.
+
+The old man remembered more than one fierce battle for the possession
+of the rice fields. Many years had passed since the peace pipe was
+last smoked, and the children had lived without being in constant
+fear of war.
+
+"My grandchildren," he said, "I will tell you how rice came to be used
+in the earliest times. There are many stories about Manabush, and you
+have heard how he wrestled with Mondamin and obtained the gift of corn.
+
+"In his early youth Manabush lived with his grandmother, who taught
+him his duty to his people.
+
+"One day she said to him: 'My grandson, you are old enough to prove
+yourself a man. Before you can become a great warrior you must show
+that you are able to endure many hardships without complaint.
+
+"'Set forth on a long journey alone and without food. Travel through
+unknown forests, enduring hunger and thirst. Sleep on the cold ground,
+and pray for a vision that shall be your guide through life.'
+
+"Manabush took his bow and arrows and went out into the forest. He
+fasted many days until he became weak and faint from hunger.
+
+"In his wanderings he drew near the shore of a lake. Great beds of
+wild rice filled half its waters, but Manabush did not know that the
+seeds were good to eat.
+
+"As he walked along within reach of the growing plants, he heard a
+soft voice say, 'Sometimes they eat us.'
+
+"'Who is speaking?' he asked. All the bushes that grew so thickly in
+the water seemed full of whispers. He looked about and saw birds of
+many kinds feeding on the tall grass-like plants.
+
+"So he picked some of the grain and ate it. 'Oh, but you are good!
+What do they call you?' he asked.
+
+"Again the rustling whispers in the tall grass seemed to say, 'Wild
+rice. They call us wild rice!'
+
+"Manabush waded out into the water and beat the grain from the heads.
+So his fast was broken by the new food given in answer to his prayers
+in the forest.
+
+"And since that time, my children, the wild rice feeds thousands of
+our people every year. It grows without planting in the lakes and
+rivers of our forest land.
+
+"Another story tells us that Manabush returned one day from a long
+hunt without game. The fire in front of his lodge was still burning,
+and a duck was sitting on the kettle eating boiled rice.
+
+"Manabush tasted the new food and found it good. He followed the bird
+to a lake not far away where wild rice had grown and ripened.
+Afterwards boiled rice became a common food among his tribe."
+
+
+
+
+MOVING THE DOLLS' CAMP
+
+
+White Cloud ran out of her wigwam home. Her work was done, and a happy
+time of play was before her.
+
+She hurried through the tall grass toward a near-by lodge, calling:
+"Flying Squirrel, come and play with me."
+
+The skin curtain hanging over the lodge door was raised and a little
+head appeared. But there was no squirrel to be seen, only an Indian
+girl with the blackest of hair and eyes.
+
+Her playmates had given her the name of Flying Squirrel because she
+was always climbing trees and jumping from one branch to another.
+
+"Bring your dolls," said White Cloud. "We'll build lodges for them.
+Come as soon as you can, for my baby is trying to get away."
+
+"Your baby! What do you mean? Where did you find a baby?"
+
+White Cloud was rejoicing in a family of young puppies--new playthings
+for her. She had bound one of them to a board, and had tied the board
+cradle to her back, as a squaw carries a papoose.
+
+"Be still! Be still, bad baby!" she cried to her squirming pet. But
+the little dog would not be still. He howled louder and louder, and
+struggled so hard that he broke away from his cords and bands.
+
+"Bad baby! Bad baby!" said White Cloud. "Next time I'll tie you
+tighter!"
+
+Flying Squirrel brought out an armful of dolls, and the children went
+to the bushes to cut long straight sticks. They soon found enough
+poles for their dolls' wigwams. Each child set up her sticks in a
+circle, bringing them together at the top.
+
+"Now we'll hunt birch bark," said Flying Squirrel. "My father has made
+me a new knife."
+
+Soon the small lodges were covered with long strips of bark and the
+floors sprinkled with cedar twigs.
+
+"I wish we had skin covers for our dolls' wigwams," said White Cloud.
+
+Flying Squirrel looked at the even strips of bark that were well
+placed around her frame of slender poles. "Lots of people have bark
+covers," she replied. "My father has seen whole villages of
+bark-covered lodges."
+
+"When the peace pipe was smoked over west, my father was there," said
+White Cloud. "Now we can get big skins in trade, and sometime we'll
+have ponies. Have you ever seen a pony, Flying Squirrel?"
+
+"No; but my father saw white men when he went north in the moon of
+snow to trade furs. He says the tribes west will come and fight us
+again for our rice beds. Let's play a war is coming and move our camp.
+Where are your dolls, White Cloud?"
+
+"I couldn't bring them, for I had my puppy baby. You have dolls
+enough for both of us."
+
+Flying Squirrel gave her playmate two of the queerest-looking dolls
+you ever saw. They were rolls of deerskin with faces painted in black
+on the ends.
+
+The children tied the smaller dolls in board cradles, hung them to the
+lodge poles, and sang lullabies.
+
+Good Bird had packed a basket of food for her little daughter. Dried
+meat, berries, parched rice, and corn made a fine feast. All were
+invited, even the puppy, and the largest dolls were honored guests.
+
+"I wish I had my new beaded bag to show you," said White Cloud. "I
+shall put my doll's best clothes in it and hang it over her bed. Are
+you learning to sew, Flying Squirrel?"
+
+"I don't like to sew. I would rather climb trees. It's time to move
+now. Let's get ready. We will go to the stream that flows into the
+lake." And Flying Squirrel began to whistle for her dogs.
+
+"My big dog is home with the rest of her puppies. May I have one of
+yours?" asked White Cloud. "Last moon my father visited a friendly
+camp. There were thirty lodges and more dogs than he could count. I
+wish he had brought me another big one."
+
+White Cloud did not say "thirty," for she knew no word for so large a
+number. She raised her ten fingers three times, just as she had seen
+her father do.
+
+Flying Squirrel called her dogs, and they came running to her. She had
+begun to train them to draw loads, and they stood quite still while
+the girls harnessed them for moving. The bark covers of the two lodges
+were taken off and carefully rolled. Then the lodge poles were corded
+in two long straight bundles. Flying Squirrel crossed the small ends
+and fastened them above the dog's back. The large ends dragged on the
+ground.
+
+[Illustration]
+
+Back of the dog the sticks were held in place by two cross pieces of
+wood carefully tied a little way apart. Between the cross pieces was a
+strong netting that hung down like a shallow bag. The dolls and rolls
+of bark were laid in one of the nets. What should the other dog carry?
+
+"I know," exclaimed White Cloud. "My puppy shall have a ride." He was
+caught and firmly tied. The net was a comfortable bed, and he made no
+objection.
+
+Soon the camp was packed, and the children started. The dogs trotted
+along quietly, and everything went well for a time. As they came near
+the little stream where they wished to set their camp, a rabbit ran
+across the trail. Away went the dogs.
+
+The rabbit leaped over the narrow stream. One of the dogs plunged
+after him, and out went the dolls and bark into the water.
+
+The other dog shook himself free from his harness. The lodge poles he
+was dragging turned upside down, holding the howling puppy in the mud.
+
+"Oh, my puppy will drown!" cried White Cloud as she dashed down the
+muddy banks in rescue.
+
+"My dolls! My best dolls are spoiled!" mourned Flying Squirrel.
+
+Soon the dogs were called back, everything found, the dolls bathed and
+laid out to dry. Then the lodges were set up, and the children rested
+in the sun.
+
+As they looked about, White Cloud saw a feather lying on the grass.
+It was painted, as if it had fallen from a warrior's bonnet.
+
+"You had better take that feather to your father now," said Flying
+Squirrel. "Perhaps there is going to be a war, and a spy has passed this
+way. I am afraid. I shall pack all my things and go home with my dogs.
+
+"Here, put this leaf around it and run to your mother. She will know
+what to do."
+
+Away ran White Cloud, holding a sprawling puppy in her arms and trying
+to protect the feather, which she had concealed in a large leaf.
+
+
+
+
+FINDING A WAR FEATHER
+
+
+"Look, Mother; look at the big feather I have found. It is not like
+the ones in my father's war bonnet."
+
+Good Bird took the feather and examined it carefully.
+
+"Where did you find it, White Cloud?" she asked.
+
+"Near the little stream that runs into the lake. Flying Squirrel and I
+have moved our dolls' lodges this morning."
+
+"You must take the feather to your father at once. It may be that some
+enemy is planning war and getting ready to surprise our camp.
+
+"Then you must move your dolls and their lodge near by where I can see
+you play. You may be in danger.
+
+"Your father is spearing fish in the lake. Now run to him. Let no one
+see the feather, and do not turn aside to talk to any one like the
+little hare that did not mind its mother."
+
+"When will you tell me the story of the hare?" asked White Cloud.
+
+"Do not talk about stories now. Run along. You must not wait a minute.
+I will watch you all the way. Your father, I think, will come back
+with you."
+
+White Cloud soon found her father. He left his fishing and returned
+with his little daughter.
+
+A council of the tribe was called, for the strange feather had been
+dropped by no friendly Indian.
+
+Then the medicine drum was beaten to call the people together. They
+were told of the danger, and there was a great stir in the village.
+Everything was made ready for sudden moving in case of attack. All the
+trained dogs were called and tied in the wigwams of their owners.
+
+A guard of young Indians was placed on watch for the night. Fleet Deer
+came late to his lodge, and after eating he joined the warriors.
+
+As nothing more could be done, Good Bird comforted her frightened
+little daughter by stories. Swift Elk pretended to be very brave. He
+did not run out of the wigwam as usual, but lay on the ground and
+listened to his mother.
+
+"Now, my daughter," she said, "I'll tell you the story you asked for
+this morning."
+
+
+
+
+THE LYNX AND THE HARE
+
+
+Once a little hare asked her mother if she might play on the big rock
+near the lodge.
+
+"Yes, little one, but you must not leave the rock. And be sure that
+you do not speak to any stranger who passes by," replied her mother.
+
+Now the rock was low near the lodge, but very high on the other side,
+where it overlooked a stream.
+
+A hungry lynx saw the little hare jumping on the high rock. "I must
+have that hare for my dinner," he said. So he spoke in a kind voice.
+"Wabose, Wabose. Come here, my little white one."
+
+The hare went to the edge of the rock and looked down.
+
+"Come here, pretty Wabose. I want to talk with you," said the lynx in
+a coaxing voice.
+
+"Oh, no," said the hare. "I am afraid of you. My mother told me not
+to talk to strangers."
+
+"You are very pretty, and you are a good, obedient child. But I am not
+a stranger. I am a relative of yours. Go down the rock and come to the
+stream where I can see you better. I want to send some word to your
+lodge. Come down and see me, you pretty little hare."
+
+The hare was pleased to be praised and called pretty. When she heard
+that the lynx was a relative, she forgot to obey her mother.
+
+She jumped down from the rock where she stood and trotted to the
+stream. There the lynx pounced upon her and tore her to pieces.
+
+"Don't you know any war stories?" asked Swift Elk.
+
+"Yes; I heard one in the moon of snow that you will like," answered
+his mother.
+
+
+
+
+HOW THE ANIMALS SAVED THE TRIBE
+
+
+Once there was an Indian village in great danger. The trail of the
+enemy had been found on every side of the camp.
+
+The women were making ready for flight. They had harnessed their dogs
+to the dragging poles. The rawhide netting between the braces that
+held the poles in place was packed with household goods.
+
+An attack was expected in the early morning. Guards were stationed to
+call the men to battle, and to tell the women which way to flee with
+their children.
+
+The warriors all were ready. Their chief went out alone under the
+stars, and prayed that he might be able to save his people from death.
+
+Suddenly a deer with branching horns stood before him. "I have come to
+tell you that your prayers are heard," he said.
+
+"We, the animals, invite you to our council. We shall give you the
+power to save your tribe."
+
+[Illustration]
+
+They traveled on together until they came to a cave under a rocky
+bluff near the river. Here the warrior chief was welcomed and given
+the seat of honor.
+
+Every animal of field and forest, and every bird of the air, had
+gathered in the immense cavern. There was silence for a moment. Then a
+great eagle flapped his wings. He stood on a jutting rock in sight of
+all.
+
+"Your acts of kindness, oh, warrior, are known to us," said the
+eagle. "You have hunted only for food, as the animals hunt. Your
+arrows have not been shot to take life without a reason. No bird nor
+beast has been left by you to suffer and die.
+
+"Therefore, I, the eagle, king of birds, give you of my courage. You
+shall fear no warlike band, however many. Alone you shall conquer the
+enemy."
+
+"And I," said the bear, "give you of my gift of healing. You shall be
+able to cure yourself, and also your fellow warriors, of any wounds
+you may receive in battle."
+
+"My fleetness is yours," said the deer. "You shall outstrip all others
+and run like the wind."
+
+The wolf stretched himself and walked noiselessly into the circle.
+"When you creep into the enemy's camp," he said, "no eye shall be able
+to see you. Thus may you rout your enemies, and no one shall know who
+is striking the blows."
+
+"I am small," said the field mouse; "I leave no tracks on the grass,
+and send no sound into the air. I give you my power, that none may
+follow your trail nor hear your footfall."
+
+"No one can give a better gift than I," said the owl. "You shall see
+in the dark as I do. The night shall be to you like the day."
+
+"You have fed me," said the dog. "You have taken me into your lodge
+and let me lie by the warm fire. I give you in return my power of
+smell that you may follow the trail of your enemy."
+
+Suddenly there was no cave in sight, no animals in council. Where he
+had been praying under the open sky, the warrior chief stood alone.
+Was it all a dream?
+
+From the grass came a faint strange smell. He followed it fast as the
+fleetest deer. In what seemed but a moment he was in sight of the
+sleeping foe.
+
+He entered their camp as silently as the field mouse. Like the eagle
+he had no fear. He struck out with his weapons. In great surprise the
+painted Indians awoke and jumped to their feet.
+
+Wounded men fell under blows that could not be seen nor heard. Their
+chief lay still upon the ground.
+
+"There is magic here," they cried. "We cannot fight against magic."
+And they aroused their band and fled, leaving everything behind them.
+
+Then the victor sped with the fleetness of the deer to his own tribe.
+The men, waiting for the battle signal, followed him to the deserted
+camp. They returned laden with weapons, the finest of bows and arrows,
+spears, war bonnets, stores of food, and other spoils of war.
+
+Joy spread among the people. In the village of wigwams feasting took
+the place of fear.
+
+"I wish I had been that warrior," said Swift Elk.
+
+"You may have a chance to be just as brave to-morrow," answered his
+mother. "I depend on you to take your father's place here if he goes
+into battle."
+
+The children could keep awake no longer, but Good Bird did not close
+her eyes. The dawn came on, the sun rose, and there was no attack.
+
+For many days and nights the young braves took their turn in watching.
+There were no further signs of an enemy, and no one ever found out how
+the strange feather came to be dropped near the camp.
+
+
+
+
+WINTER EVENINGS
+
+
+The wind roared in the trees, and the snow was falling. But Fleet
+Deer's lodge was warm and comfortable. Good Bird, his wife, knew how
+to make a lodge, and how to keep it from being smoky.
+
+She had sewed heavy skins together for the outside cover of the
+wigwam. Inside, the lower walls were of tanned doeskin, nearly white.
+The cold air passing between the lining and the cover ventilated the
+room and carried the smoke out of the smoke hole.
+
+In the middle of the circular floor was a stone-lined fire pit, now
+filled with glowing coals that gave light to the room.
+
+Warm skins with the fur uppermost covered the three long platforms
+that were used for seats in the daytime and for beds at night.
+
+Good Bird took great pride in her home. She kept the floor swept with
+a cedar broom and everything in its place.
+
+[Illustration]
+
+When not busy in preparing food, she made clothing and moccasins. She
+stained porcupine quills for trimmings, and made necklaces of shells.
+The teeth of wild animals were used for ornaments.
+
+On this cold winter evening Good Bird was dressed in a handsome
+garment trimmed with fringe and colored quills. Her moccasins and
+leggings were also ornamented.
+
+She had braided her hair neatly, and drawn a line of fresh red paint
+along the parting. Her forehead and cheeks were also touched with red.
+
+"Are you going to a dance, Mother?" asked White Cloud.
+
+Good Bird said nothing, but smiled as she thought of the guest who was
+expected and the pleasant surprise in store for her children.
+
+The evening meal was over. Nokomis had opened her stores of maple sugar
+and corn in honor of Swift Elk, who had won the game of tops that day.
+
+Whipping his winter top over level snow and high drifts alike, he had
+outdistanced his companions by fifty paces.
+
+White Cloud sat by the fire drying her moccasins. She had been out
+sliding with her playmates until the sun left the sky. You would have
+thought their sleds very funny, for they were made of the curved rib
+bones of a large deer.
+
+Swift Elk was studying the strange signs and markings on the lining
+of the wigwam. He was never tired of hearing the pictures explained,
+for they showed in order the chief events in his father's life.
+
+Here was the grizzly bear that Fleet Deer had killed single-handed.
+For this deed of bravery he was entitled to wear an eagle's feather.
+
+Here was the deer that was killed in time of famine, after a long and
+dangerous hunt.
+
+Other pictures showed Indians in the war dance, on the war trail,
+surprising the foe, returning with the honors of battle, holding a
+council, and smoking the peace pipe.
+
+Fleet Deer was master of the Indian art of picture writing, and he had,
+that very day, added new paintings to the record. His children had never
+heard of any other way to read or write, and they had never seen a book.
+
+The flap of skin covering the lodge entrance was raised and a man
+entered.
+
+"The story-teller! The story-teller!" shouted the children with
+delight. He was given the seat of honor and the best food that Good
+Bird could provide.
+
+When the guest was warm and his meal over, favorite stories were asked
+for.
+
+"We ought to hear again of the great gift of corn to our people," said
+Good Bird.
+
+"New stories, I want new stories. Will you tell us some new stories?"
+asked White Cloud.
+
+"War stories, I want, and stories of boys," said Swift Elk.
+
+Then Fleet Deer, the father, spoke: "I wish my son to know the tale of
+the White Canoe and how a great warrior honored his parents."
+
+Nokomis had no request. She was a fine story-teller herself and
+interested in hearing everything that might be related.
+
+Then, to the joy of his hearers, the story-teller began.
+
+First he delighted the children by telling of the ground hog that
+saved his own life by teaching a new dance.
+
+The next tale was about the first animals and how they came to live in
+the forests and on the plains.
+
+After the story-teller had explained how sickness came into the world,
+Fleet Deer wanted to be a medicine man and find all the plants that
+cure disease.
+
+And so they all listened to one tale after another until the midnight
+stars shone overhead and the embers grew white where the burning logs
+had sparkled.
+
+Now you may read for yourselves the stories that were told in an
+Indian lodge on a winter evening.
+
+
+
+
+THE GROUND-HOG DANCE
+
+
+Seven wolves once caught a ground hog. "Now we'll kill you and have
+something good to eat," they said.
+
+But the ground hog replied: "When we find good food we must rejoice
+over it, as people do in the green-corn dance. I know you mean to kill
+me, and I can't help myself, but if you want to dance I'll sing for you.
+
+"I will teach you a new dance. I'll lean up against seven trees in
+turn, and you will dance away, then come back toward me. At the last
+turn you may kill me."
+
+The wolves were very hungry, but they wanted to learn the new dance.
+So they told the ground hog to go ahead. The ground hog leaned up
+against the first tree and began the song.
+
+All the wolves danced away from the trees. When the signal was given
+they danced back in line.
+
+[Illustration]
+
+"That's fine!" said the ground hog, as he went to the second tree and
+began the second song. The wolves danced away, then turned at the
+signal and danced back again.
+
+"That's very fine," said the ground hog; and he went to another tree
+and started the third song.
+
+The wolves danced their best, and were praised by the ground hog. At
+each song he took another tree, and each tree was a little nearer to
+his hole under a stump.
+
+At the seventh song he said, "Now this is the last dance. When I give
+the signal you will all turn and come after me. The one who catches me
+may have me."
+
+So the ground hog began the last song, and kept it up until the wolves
+were many steps away. Just as the signal was given he made a jump for
+his hole.
+
+The wolves turned and were after him. But the ground hog reached his
+hole and dived in. He was scarcely inside when the foremost wolf
+caught him by the tail and pulled so hard that it broke off.
+
+And the ground hog's tail has been short ever since.
+
+
+
+
+THE LUCKY HUNTER
+
+
+Soon after the world was made, a hunter lived with his wife and only
+son near a high mountain. No matter when the man went into the woods
+he was sure to come back with plenty of meat. And so he went by the
+name of the Lucky Hunter.
+
+The little boy used to play every day by a river not far from the
+house. One morning the old people thought they heard laughing and
+talking in the bushes as if two children were playing together.
+
+When the boy came home at night he was asked who had been with him all
+day.
+
+"A wild boy comes out of the water," answered the son. "He says he is
+my elder brother."
+
+The father and mother wished very much to see their son's companion,
+but the wild boy always ran into the river when he heard them coming.
+
+"This must not go on," said the father.
+
+That night the Lucky Hunter said to his son: "To-morrow when the wild
+boy comes to play, ask him to wrestle with you. When you have your
+arms around him, you must hold him and call us."
+
+In this way the wild boy was caught and kept in the house until he was
+tamed. He was full of mischief, and he led the smaller boy into all
+kinds of trouble.
+
+One day the wild boy said to his brother: "I wonder where our father
+gets all his game. Let's follow him and find out."
+
+A few days afterward the Lucky Hunter took a bow and some feathers in
+his hand and went toward a swamp. After waiting a short time, the boys
+followed.
+
+The old man cut reeds, fitted the feathers to them, and made arrows.
+
+"What are those things for, I wonder?" said the wild boy.
+
+When the Lucky Hunter had finished his arrows, he went on over the
+low hills and up the mountain.
+
+Keeping out of sight, the boys watched him. When he was halfway to the
+top he stopped and lifted a large rock in the side of the mountain.
+
+At once a deer ran out. The Lucky Hunter killed it with his first
+arrow. Then he carefully replaced the heavy stone and pulled a strong
+vine over it to conceal the cracks.
+
+"Oho," said the boys. "He keeps the deer shut up inside of the
+mountain. When he wants meat he lets one out and kills it with the
+arrows he made in the swamp."
+
+They hurried to reach home before their father, who had the heavy deer
+to carry.
+
+A few days later the boys went to the swamp, made arrows, and started
+up the mountain. When they came to the hole, they lifted the rock and
+a deer came running out.
+
+Before they could shoot him another came, and another. The boys could
+not stop them, and they could not shoot them.
+
+[Illustration]
+
+Other animals made a rush for the entrance. There were elk, antelope,
+raccoons, wolves, foxes, panthers, and many others. They scattered in
+all directions and disappeared in the wilderness.
+
+Then a great flock of birds came flying out of the hole. There were
+turkeys, geese, ducks, quail, eagles, robins, hawks, and owls.
+
+They darkened the air like a cloud and made such a noise with their
+wings that the Lucky Hunter heard them.
+
+"My bad boys have got into trouble," he cried. "I must go and see what
+they are doing."
+
+So he went up the mountain and found the two boys standing by the
+opening. Not an animal nor a bird was to be seen.
+
+Their father was very angry. Without a word he went into the cave and
+kicked off the covers of four jars. Out swarmed wasps, hornets, gnats,
+flies, mosquitoes, and all manner of stinging and biting insects and
+bugs.
+
+The boys screamed with pain. They rolled over and over on the ground,
+trying to brush off their tormentors.
+
+Their father looked on until he thought they had been punished enough.
+Then he spoke.
+
+"See what you have done, you rascals. Always before you have had
+enough to eat without working for it. Whenever you were hungry, all I
+had to do was to come up here and take home anything your mother
+wanted to cook.
+
+"After this when you want a deer to eat, you will have to hunt all
+over the woods for it, and then may not find one.
+
+"Now you may go and take care of yourselves."
+
+[Illustration]
+
+
+
+
+HOW SICKNESS CAME
+
+
+In the old days when the beasts, birds, fishes, insects, and plants
+could talk, they lived in peace and friendship with the children of men.
+
+But, as time went on, the people increased in number, and they crowded
+the animals out of their homes.
+
+This was bad enough, but, to make it worse, man invented bows and
+arrows, spears, knives, and hooks, and began to kill the animals.
+
+They were killed for clothing, and they were killed for food, and
+still they were patient. But when man began to kill them for sport,
+they determined to unite for common safety.
+
+The bears first met in council with their chief. After each in turn
+had complained of the cruel treatment of man, they all declared war
+against him.
+
+Some of the bears proposed to make weapons and use them. But the chief
+said: "It is better to trust to the teeth and claws which Nature has
+given us."
+
+As no one could think of other plans, their chief dismissed the
+council. The bears returned to the woods, and have done little harm to
+man ever since.
+
+The deer next held a council. They decided that any one who killed a
+deer without asking his pardon should be lame with many pains.
+
+The reptiles and the fish talked the matter over. They agreed to
+punish man by making him dream of snakes and of eating raw fish.
+
+In the last council the birds, rabbits, squirrels, ducks, and the
+smaller animals came together. All complained of stolen nests, stones,
+and arrows.
+
+The ground squirrel alone said a good word for man. This made the others
+so angry that they fell upon the little animal and tore him with their
+claws. You can see the stripes on his back even to this day.
+
+Then all the squirrels that had lost legs or tail by arrows, all
+rabbits running on three legs, all birds that had seen their little
+ones die, all wild ducks lamed, and all animals that had ever been
+wounded for sport rose up and called for revenge.
+
+"Let the pains and the trouble that man has sent to us and our
+children be sent to him and his children," they demanded.
+
+"But how can we do this?" asked the others. "We cannot turn man's
+weapons against him."
+
+"Let us send new diseases," proposed a limping fox.
+
+All rose up with pleasure at this proposal. And they commenced to
+invent diseases so fast that they had soon named every kind of
+sickness that you ever heard of. Had they thought of many more, no
+human beings would now be alive.
+
+The grubworm, who had been stepped on by man, was so delighted that he
+fell over backwards and has had to wriggle on his back ever since.
+
+But the plants continued friendly to man. When they heard what the
+animals had done, they promised to help him and his children forever.
+
+Every tree and plant, even the grass and the moss, agreed to furnish a
+cure for one of the diseases sent by the animals.
+
+Each said in turn: "I shall help man when he calls on me in his need."
+
+Thus came medicine. And if we only knew where to look, we might find
+among the plants a cure for every kind of sickness.
+
+
+
+
+HOW SPRING CONQUERED WINTER
+
+
+Far to the North lives the terrible giant, Winter. When he leaves his
+home, all people dread his coming. He whistles, and the storms roar
+about him. Where he steps, the ground turns to rock and plants bow
+their heads to the earth.
+
+All the animals flee before him and hide in caves and hollow trees. The
+children leave their happy play and sit shivering by the wigwam fire.
+
+One day old Winter looked about him. He saw no life in field or
+forest. The wind raged, and the drifts almost hid the lodges of the
+Indians.
+
+"The world is conquered; I am the only king," said giant Winter. He
+sat alone in his lodge. The fire was white with ashes, and the tempest
+howled.
+
+A step was heard, and a young warrior entered the lodge.
+
+He was tall and straight and youthful.
+
+Old Winter welcomed the stranger. "Sit here on the mat beside me," he
+said. "Let us pass the night together. You shall tell me of your
+strange adventures, and of the lands in which you have traveled."
+
+The old man drew his long peace pipe from its pouch. It was made of
+red sandstone, and its stem was a smooth reed. He lighted the pipe
+from the dying embers and passed it to his guest.
+
+Long they talked and smoked together, each boasting of his power.
+
+"When I blow my breath about me," said old Winter, "rivers stop their
+flowing, and water turns to stone."
+
+The young man smiled. "When I blow my breath about me," he replied, "I
+free your prisoned waters, and they rush onward to the seas."
+
+"My power is greater than yours," boasted Winter. "I have only to
+shake my long hair and the leaves die on the branches. Plants bow
+their heads before me and go back into the earth."
+
+[Illustration]
+
+And now the stranger laughed as he boasted of greater power. "When I
+shake my curling locks, I call the leaves back on the branches. The
+plants come out of the brown earth and bring forth their flowers and
+fruit."
+
+Old Winter frowned. "I speak, and the birds fly away. I command, and
+the wild beasts obey me. They hide in caves. They burrow in the
+earth. They do not venture to look upon my face!"
+
+"I call back the birds you have sent away," replied the stranger.
+"They hear my voice and return to their nesting places. I speak, and
+the beasts leave their shelters and fill the forests and the plains
+with life."
+
+"I am the king," shouted Winter, "for even man obeys me. When I send
+the tempest, the mightiest warriors turn and flee. They close the
+doors of their lodges, and I imprison them with drifts of snow."
+
+"I also have power over man," replied the stranger. "My name is
+Spring. I melt your snow and open the wigwam doors. All men rejoice,
+and they come forth to hunt and feast and dance."
+
+The night waned, and the sun came from his lodge like a painted
+warrior. The air grew warm and pleasant, and the bluebird and the
+robin sang on the lodge poles.
+
+But the giant! What was taking place? He was growing smaller. Now he
+was no larger than a common man. His war bonnet was no longer white,
+but old and gray, and its feathers were falling one by one.
+
+Still the giant dwindled. Smaller and smaller he grew. Tears flowed
+from his eyes. He vanished from sight, and fled away with a noise like
+the rush of waters. Far to the north he flew where the snow never melts.
+
+Thus did Spring, the beautiful youth, conquer the great and mighty
+Winter.
+
+      "Thus it was that in the Northland
+    Came the Spring with all its splendor,
+    All its birds and all its blossoms,
+    All its flowers and leaves and grasses."
+
+
+
+
+THE GIFT OF CORN
+
+
+A tribe of Indians once lived on the beautiful islands of a large
+lake. They were driven from their homes by hostile tribes. Men, women,
+and children left everything they owned and paddled their canoes
+westward to the mainland.
+
+But Manabush, the bravest of the warriors, remained behind. It was his
+purpose to keep close watch of the enemy, and to send warning in time
+to prevent surprise.
+
+Every day he paddled his birch canoe close to the shore, hiding in
+nooks and bays. He had with him two boys, and with their aid the canoe
+was hauled every night into the thick woods.
+
+As they walked, they carefully covered their footprints with sand.
+
+Each day Manabush thought of his suffering people, whose supplies of
+food had been stolen by the enemy. The brave warrior prayed to the
+spirits of earth and air, asking that food be given to his tribe.
+
+One morning Manabush rose early, leaving the two boys asleep. He went
+out from the tent and walked in the forest, where he could not be seen.
+
+Suddenly he came out upon an open plain. Approaching him was a
+handsome youth dressed in garments of green and yellow. In his hair he
+wore a red plume.
+
+Truly this stranger must come from skyland, he thought. What answer
+does he bring?
+
+"I am Mondamin," said the strange man. "Your prayers are heard, for
+you pray, not for yourself, but for your people. I have come to show
+you how by labor and struggle you can gain what you have prayed for.
+You must wrestle with me."
+
+Long they strove together. The man of the red feather was strong and
+active, but at last he was thrown to the earth.
+
+[Illustration]
+
+"I have thrown you! I have thrown you!" shouted Manabush.
+
+"You have gained a great gift for your people," said Mondamin, "for I
+am the spirit of the corn."
+
+Even as he spoke, a wonderful change took place. Gone was the man who
+had wrestled with such strength. His garments had turned into green
+and yellow corn husks, and his body to a ripe red ear of corn. But the
+red plume was still waving.
+
+Again the voice of Mondamin was heard from the ground. "Take from me
+my covers. Scatter my kernels over the plain. Break my spine and throw
+it all about you.
+
+"Make the earth soft and light above me. Let no bird disturb me, and
+let no weed share my resting place. Watch me till I stand once more
+tall and beautiful. Then you shall have food for your people."
+
+Manabush obeyed all that the voice had commanded. On the way back to
+his canoe he killed a deer, but he said no word to his companions of
+his strange adventure with the man of the red feather.
+
+When the new moon hung like a bow in the west, he visited the field
+alone. What were the wide grass-like blades making green the plain?
+What were the vines that sent their runners all about?
+
+Carefully he tilled the field. The stems grew strong, and the broad
+leaves gleamed in the sunshine. Still he kept the secret, spending
+many hours in watching for his enemies.
+
+When summer drew near its close, Manabush paddled his canoe to the
+shore nearest the wrestling ground. He found the corn clad in green
+and yellow, with red plumes waving. And great yellow pumpkins were
+ripening on the green vines.
+
+As he picked the ripe red ears he heard a voice from the field,
+saying: "Victory has crowned your struggles, O Manabush. The gift of
+corn is to your people, and will always be their food."
+
+
+
+
+THE MAGIC CANOE
+
+
+One night, as Manabush was lying on the ground in the thick woods, he
+heard strange voices. "This is no common enemy," he said to himself.
+But he lay motionless and listened.
+
+The evil spirits were plotting to take his life. By his magic power he
+was able to defend himself from their attacks, and they slipped away
+unseen.
+
+In the morning he went to the open shore. There he saw a canoe drawn
+up on the beach. Coming near, he found a man in the bow and another in
+the stern. They had been changed into stone images as a punishment for
+their wicked deeds.
+
+The canoe was the largest and finest that Manabush had ever seen. It
+was full of bags of the most beautiful clothing and stores of the
+rarest food.
+
+Manabush carried all the treasures into the wood and concealed them
+in a cave. Then he took the magic canoe and hid it among the rocks.
+
+[Illustration]
+
+A voice was heard from one of the stone images: "In this way will the
+canoes of your people be loaded when they pass again along this coast."
+
+Manabush returned to his two young companions, bidding them arise and
+cook. He showed them the abundance of meat and fish, the bags of maple
+sugar and dried berries, and other foods liked by the Indians.
+
+Then he thought of his aged father and mother, who had fled far from
+their homes. Danger seemed past, and he wished them to return and
+share his gifts.
+
+Westward he sailed in the magic canoe. He needed no paddles, for his
+wishes guided him, and the boat flew through the water with amazing
+speed.
+
+Before daylight he was at the lodge of his parents. He found them
+asleep, and he carried them to his canoe so gently that they did not
+awaken.
+
+When they awoke in the morning, they could hardly believe their eyes.
+They had left behind hunger and a barren lodge. They found themselves
+in their own country, with abundance all about them.
+
+Food was placed before them. Then the bags were opened. There were
+beaded dresses for the mother and war bonnets for the father. There
+were moccasins and warm blankets. There were skins as soft as the
+most skilled work could produce.
+
+Manabush built his parents a lodge near the cornfield and filled it
+with every comfort. Then he brought ears of corn and pumpkins and laid
+before them. He told them of his wrestling with Mondamin, and he
+showed them the field where the corn stood in its garments of green
+and yellow, waving its red plumes.
+
+The secret of the magic canoe, the stone images, and the wonderful
+gifts was shared by Manabush with his father and mother.
+
+When spring returned a large cornfield grew and prospered. The exiled
+tribe came back, and from that time they were noted for their fine
+crops of maize.
+
+
+
+
+THE HAPPY HUNTING GROUNDS
+
+
+All who leave the earth must follow the death trail. Each walks
+alone--warrior, squaw, or child. All but papoose. The good spirits
+carry papoose.
+
+The trail goes on and on to the place where the sun slips over the
+edge of the earth plane. There it comes to a deep, rapid stream, and
+the only bridge is a slippery pine log.
+
+On the other side of the river are six strange beings with rocks in
+their hands. These rocks are magic stones which can injure only those
+who have done evil, but can never touch nor harm the good.
+
+When the one who follows the death trail reaches the middle of the
+log, he sees the stones come flying toward him.
+
+If his life has been evil, he tries to dodge; therefore, he slips off
+the log and falls into the black, swirling water.
+
+Sometimes he crawls out of the stream and climbs to the top of the
+rocks. But he can never reach the country of the good spirits.
+
+There is only one trail to the Happy Hunting Grounds, and that is over
+the narrow, slippery log. But if the one who is crossing has brought
+good to his kinsmen and his tribe, he does not fear.
+
+He knows that no harm can come from the stones that fly around him,
+and so he keeps his footing and walks safely over.
+
+The trail winds on over high rocks to the beautiful land. No storms
+and no winter enter the Happy Hunting Grounds. The sky is always blue,
+and the grass never grows dry with heat nor brown with frost.
+
+The trees are full of birds, the bushes of fruit, and the forests are
+alive with game. Feasting and dancing fill the day, and the war cry is
+heard no more.
+
+
+
+
+ABOUT THE BOOK
+
+
+     The facts and stories which have made this little book possible
+     are found in the works of Schoolcraft and in the Government
+     reports of Ethnology. Especial credit is due to Albert E. Jenks,
+     author of "The Wild-Rice Indians of the Upper Lakes," and to
+     James Mooney, who reported for the Government the tribal myths
+     told by famous Cherokee story-tellers.
+
+     There is evidence that the Indians of early times had regular
+     trade routes across the continent, north and south, and east and
+     west. It was the custom of their story-tellers to exchange
+     stories, and it is therefore possible that some of the myths told
+     in the south found their way in northern wigwams. The story of
+     the birds welcoming a papoose, for example, is obtained in part
+     from the Cherokee collection, and in part from Schoolcraft, who
+     lived among the Ojibways, or Chippewas as they are often called.
+     That certain tales are similar to fables of AEsop is explained by
+     the theory that a primitive people, observing nature, would
+     originate similar myths.
+
+     The forests where rice grew wild in the shallow water of lakes
+     and streams, were coveted lands and the cause of many Indian
+     wars. Here game was abundant, and maple sugar, berries, and nuts
+     could be obtained in season.
+
+     After years of conflict for the rice lands, peace was made
+     between the Ojibways of the Great Lakes and the Sioux, or
+     Dakotahs, farther west. Trade with the whites had begun, but
+     there were many villages which the white men had never entered,
+     and where the primitive customs were still unchanged.
+
+     As Hiawatha was not the only Indian who married a Dakotah, it
+     follows that there were homes where the family life was
+     influenced by the customs of both tribes.
+
+     The author has endeavored to describe child life in the Wild-Rice
+     region west of the Great Lakes at this period, and to retell some
+     of the most interesting stories enjoyed by Indian children.
+
+     The aim of the book is to gratify the American child's natural
+     interest in primitive life by stories of our own land and to
+     increase his respect for all that is original and worthy in the
+     lives of the First Americans.
+
+
+
+
+
+End of Project Gutenberg's Two Indian Children of Long Ago, by Frances Taylor
+
+*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK TWO INDIAN CHILDREN OF LONG AGO ***
+
+***** This file should be named 31502.txt or 31502.zip *****
+This and all associated files of various formats will be found in:
+        http://www.gutenberg.org/3/1/5/0/31502/
+
+Produced by Larry B. Harrison and the Online Distributed
+Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net
+
+
+Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions
+will be renamed.
+
+Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no
+one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation
+(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without
+permission and without paying copyright royalties.  Special rules,
+set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to
+copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to
+protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark.  Project
+Gutenberg is a registered trademark, and may not be used if you
+charge for the eBooks, unless you receive specific permission.  If you
+do not charge anything for copies of this eBook, complying with the
+rules is very easy.  You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose
+such as creation of derivative works, reports, performances and
+research.  They may be modified and printed and given away--you may do
+practically ANYTHING with public domain eBooks.  Redistribution is
+subject to the trademark license, especially commercial
+redistribution.
+
+
+
+*** START: FULL LICENSE ***
+
+THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE
+PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK
+
+To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free
+distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work
+(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project
+Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full Project
+Gutenberg-tm License (available with this file or online at
+http://gutenberg.org/license).
+
+
+Section 1.  General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project Gutenberg-tm
+electronic works
+
+1.A.  By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm
+electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to
+and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property
+(trademark/copyright) agreement.  If you do not agree to abide by all
+the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or destroy
+all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your possession.
+If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a Project
+Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound by the
+terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the person or
+entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph 1.E.8.
+
+1.B.  "Project Gutenberg" is a registered trademark.  It may only be
+used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who
+agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement.  There are a few
+things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works
+even without complying with the full terms of this agreement.  See
+paragraph 1.C below.  There are a lot of things you can do with Project
+Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this agreement
+and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm electronic
+works.  See paragraph 1.E below.
+
+1.C.  The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the Foundation"
+or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection of Project
+Gutenberg-tm electronic works.  Nearly all the individual works in the
+collection are in the public domain in the United States.  If an
+individual work is in the public domain in the United States and you are
+located in the United States, we do not claim a right to prevent you from
+copying, distributing, performing, displaying or creating derivative
+works based on the work as long as all references to Project Gutenberg
+are removed.  Of course, we hope that you will support the Project
+Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting free access to electronic works by
+freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm works in compliance with the terms of
+this agreement for keeping the Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with
+the work.  You can easily comply with the terms of this agreement by
+keeping this work in the same format with its attached full Project
+Gutenberg-tm License when you share it without charge with others.
+
+1.D.  The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern
+what you can do with this work.  Copyright laws in most countries are in
+a constant state of change.  If you are outside the United States, check
+the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this agreement
+before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, distributing or
+creating derivative works based on this work or any other Project
+Gutenberg-tm work.  The Foundation makes no representations concerning
+the copyright status of any work in any country outside the United
+States.
+
+1.E.  Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg:
+
+1.E.1.  The following sentence, with active links to, or other immediate
+access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear prominently
+whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work on which the
+phrase "Project Gutenberg" appears, or with which the phrase "Project
+Gutenberg" is associated) is accessed, displayed, performed, viewed,
+copied or distributed:
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+1.E.2.  If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is derived
+from the public domain (does not contain a notice indicating that it is
+posted with permission of the copyright holder), the work can be copied
+and distributed to anyone in the United States without paying any fees
+or charges.  If you are redistributing or providing access to a work
+with the phrase "Project Gutenberg" associated with or appearing on the
+work, you must comply either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1
+through 1.E.7 or obtain permission for the use of the work and the
+Project Gutenberg-tm trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or
+1.E.9.
+
+1.E.3.  If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted
+with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution
+must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any additional
+terms imposed by the copyright holder.  Additional terms will be linked
+to the Project Gutenberg-tm License for all works posted with the
+permission of the copyright holder found at the beginning of this work.
+
+1.E.4.  Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm
+License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this
+work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm.
+
+1.E.5.  Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this
+electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without
+prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with
+active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project
+Gutenberg-tm License.
+
+1.E.6.  You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary,
+compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including any
+word processing or hypertext form.  However, if you provide access to or
+distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format other than
+"Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other format used in the official version
+posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm web site (www.gutenberg.org),
+you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense to the user, provide a
+copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means of obtaining a copy upon
+request, of the work in its original "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other
+form.  Any alternate format must include the full Project Gutenberg-tm
+License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1.
+
+1.E.7.  Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying,
+performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg-tm works
+unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9.
+
+1.E.8.  You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing
+access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works provided
+that
+
+- You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from
+     the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method
+     you already use to calculate your applicable taxes.  The fee is
+     owed to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he
+     has agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the
+     Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation.  Royalty payments
+     must be paid within 60 days following each date on which you
+     prepare (or are legally required to prepare) your periodic tax
+     returns.  Royalty payments should be clearly marked as such and
+     sent to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the
+     address specified in Section 4, "Information about donations to
+     the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation."
+
+- You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies
+     you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he
+     does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm
+     License.  You must require such a user to return or
+     destroy all copies of the works possessed in a physical medium
+     and discontinue all use of and all access to other copies of
+     Project Gutenberg-tm works.
+
+- You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of any
+     money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the
+     electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days
+     of receipt of the work.
+
+- You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free
+     distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works.
+
+1.E.9.  If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project Gutenberg-tm
+electronic work or group of works on different terms than are set
+forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing from
+both the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and Michael
+Hart, the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark.  Contact the
+Foundation as set forth in Section 3 below.
+
+1.F.
+
+1.F.1.  Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable
+effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread
+public domain works in creating the Project Gutenberg-tm
+collection.  Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm electronic
+works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may contain
+"Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate or
+corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other intellectual
+property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or other medium, a
+computer virus, or computer codes that damage or cannot be read by
+your equipment.
+
+1.F.2.  LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the "Right
+of Replacement or Refund" described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project
+Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project
+Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project
+Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all
+liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal
+fees.  YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT
+LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE
+PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH F3.  YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE
+TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE
+LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR
+INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH
+DAMAGE.
+
+1.F.3.  LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a
+defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can
+receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a
+written explanation to the person you received the work from.  If you
+received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium with
+your written explanation.  The person or entity that provided you with
+the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in lieu of a
+refund.  If you received the work electronically, the person or entity
+providing it to you may choose to give you a second opportunity to
+receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund.  If the second copy
+is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing without further
+opportunities to fix the problem.
+
+1.F.4.  Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth
+in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS' WITH NO OTHER
+WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO
+WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTIBILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE.
+
+1.F.5.  Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied
+warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of damages.
+If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement violates the
+law of the state applicable to this agreement, the agreement shall be
+interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or limitation permitted by
+the applicable state law.  The invalidity or unenforceability of any
+provision of this agreement shall not void the remaining provisions.
+
+1.F.6.  INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the
+trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone
+providing copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in accordance
+with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the production,
+promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works,
+harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, including legal fees,
+that arise directly or indirectly from any of the following which you do
+or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this or any Project Gutenberg-tm
+work, (b) alteration, modification, or additions or deletions to any
+Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any Defect you cause.
+
+
+Section  2.  Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm
+
+Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of
+electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of computers
+including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers.  It exists
+because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations from
+people in all walks of life.
+
+Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the
+assistance they need, are critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm's
+goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg-tm collection will
+remain freely available for generations to come.  In 2001, the Project
+Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure
+and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future generations.
+To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation
+and how your efforts and donations can help, see Sections 3 and 4
+and the Foundation web page at http://www.pglaf.org.
+
+
+Section 3.  Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive
+Foundation
+
+The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non profit
+501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the
+state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal
+Revenue Service.  The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification
+number is 64-6221541.  Its 501(c)(3) letter is posted at
+http://pglaf.org/fundraising.  Contributions to the Project Gutenberg
+Literary Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent
+permitted by U.S. federal laws and your state's laws.
+
+The Foundation's principal office is located at 4557 Melan Dr. S.
+Fairbanks, AK, 99712., but its volunteers and employees are scattered
+throughout numerous locations.  Its business office is located at
+809 North 1500 West, Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887, email
+business@pglaf.org.  Email contact links and up to date contact
+information can be found at the Foundation's web site and official
+page at http://pglaf.org
+
+For additional contact information:
+     Dr. Gregory B. Newby
+     Chief Executive and Director
+     gbnewby@pglaf.org
+
+
+Section 4.  Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg
+Literary Archive Foundation
+
+Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without wide
+spread public support and donations to carry out its mission of
+increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be
+freely distributed in machine readable form accessible by the widest
+array of equipment including outdated equipment.  Many small donations
+($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt
+status with the IRS.
+
+The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating
+charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United
+States.  Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a
+considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up
+with these requirements.  We do not solicit donations in locations
+where we have not received written confirmation of compliance.  To
+SEND DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any
+particular state visit http://pglaf.org
+
+While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we
+have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition
+against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who
+approach us with offers to donate.
+
+International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make
+any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from
+outside the United States.  U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff.
+
+Please check the Project Gutenberg Web pages for current donation
+methods and addresses.  Donations are accepted in a number of other
+ways including checks, online payments and credit card donations.
+To donate, please visit: http://pglaf.org/donate
+
+
+Section 5.  General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic
+works.
+
+Professor Michael S. Hart is the originator of the Project Gutenberg-tm
+concept of a library of electronic works that could be freely shared
+with anyone.  For thirty years, he produced and distributed Project
+Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of volunteer support.
+
+
+Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed
+editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the U.S.
+unless a copyright notice is included.  Thus, we do not necessarily
+keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition.
+
+
+Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility:
+
+     http://www.gutenberg.org
+
+This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm,
+including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary
+Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to
+subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks.