'5:!r««5fi3&J*iJL * 
 
 EDfVIN MLLARD 
 
RED FOLK AND 
 
 WILD FOLK 
 
 WITH NUMEROUS FULL-PAGE COLOUR-PLATES AFTER PAINTLNGS 
 
 LN WATER-COLOUR TOGETHER WITH ILLUSTRATIONS 
 
 IN BLACK-AND-WHITE, 
 
 By EDWIN WILLARD DE.WING 
 
 AND WITH INDIAN FOLK-LORE STORIES FOR CHILDREM 
 
 By THERESE 0. DEA\L\G 
 
 NEW YORK 
 
 FREDERICK A. STOKES COMPANY 
 
 PUBLISHERS 
 
TD-OUR'fWQLiYTLE DAUGHTERS 
 
 A! i'Al^DEN •'aKo j^ATHRYN 
 
 THIS BOOK IS AFFECTIONATELY DEDICATED 
 
 CorvKicHT, 1902, 
 By FRF.DERICK A. STOKES COMPANY. 
 
 rriiuc.l in the Vnited States of America 
 
The Old Elk Mamac 
 
 "See, the geese have returned ; tliey are" flying 
 to the North, and we shall soon have spring," said 
 an Indian father to his wife. "To-morrow we will 
 take our little ones and start for the mountains. We 
 are very poor now, and we must lay in a good supply 
 
 of furs, skins and dried 
 meat before the summer 
 is over again. " 
 
 Next day the mother 
 
 took her tiny little new 
 
 baby on her back, and 
 
 the papa took his little 
 
 girl, who was five years 
 
 old, and off they started 
 
 for the mountains. 
 
 They travelled many, many days, and at last the 
 
 father said they would stop and camp. So the mother 
 
 put up the tepee while the papa went off to hunt. 
 
 He was a very good hunter, and it was not very 
 long before the papa had a nice pile of warm furs 
 and the mama had quite a little dried meat put away 
 for the winter supply. 
 
 One morning the Indian mama put her baby in 
 the litde girl's arms and said: " You must take good 
 care of your little brother, for I am going over the 
 river with your father to get some berries. I will be 
 back soon." She got into the canoe, and the papa 
 paddled out into the river. 
 
 m7tW3 
 
IME OLD ELK MAMA. 
 
 'J hey. \ye.re ialmost in the middle of the stream 
 when .a -greAt .storm suddenK' l)r()kc n^ht o\'er them, 
 and the ' wiiVd'lashed the water into fury. Soon the 
 canoe was tipped over, and the wind blew it a\\a\'. 
 The lather and mother could not sa\e themselves aiul 
 were drowned. 
 
 When night came on and the baby's mama did 
 not return he beg^an to cry. The sister knew her 
 baby brother was hungry, but she cHd not know what 
 to give him to eat, because he had no teeth. He 
 cried harder and harder, and at last the little sister 
 Q;ave him some dried meat. Thoui^h he could not eat 
 it, he liked the taste of the meat and stopped crying 
 for a little while. 
 
 Soon the baby grew so hungry that he cried 
 harder and harder, and the sister cried with him be- 
 cause she felt so sorry for her little brother and did 
 not know how to help him. 
 
 Mother Elk happened to hear the child cry. She 
 had just lost her little baby elk, and she said : " W hy 
 is that poor baby crying ? 
 
 " Aly mother went off this morning," answered the 
 child, " and the little baby is very hungry, I do not 
 know what to give him to eat, for he has no teeth." 
 
 " I have plenty of milk," said Mother Elk ; " bring 
 the child to me, and I will feed him." 
 
 The little girl took the baby to Mother Elk, 
 and when the child had taken all the milk he wanted, 
 he stopped crying and was happy again. The older 
 child ate the dried meat her mother had left behind. 
 
THE OLD ELK MAMA. 3 
 
 When the baby had satisfied its hunger, Mother 
 Elk went off into the forests to feed; but she always 
 returned to give the baby milk. 
 
 Soon the little girl had eaten all the meat her 
 mother had left behind, and she did not know how 
 to get more, for she was herself only a baby. When 
 Mother Elk came to feed the baby, she said: "I 
 have nothing more to eat, will you tell me where I 
 can find food ? " 
 
 "You may drink some of my milk, I have plenty 
 for you both; then you will not be hungry. " 
 
 The child thanked her and it was not lonsr be- 
 fore Mother Elk learned to love the two children 
 very dearly, and did not like to be separated from them. 
 
 W^hen she went to the forests to feed, she took 
 the babies with her, and, when night came on, she 
 took them back to the 
 lodge and slept outside, 
 for she was too big to go in. 
 
 The little girl would 
 wrap herself and the baby ; 
 in warm furs, and then 
 lie as close to him as pos- 
 sible, so that they should be warm. They were not 
 afraid of the dark — why should they be ? Nobody 
 would want to hurt two poor little children, and then, 
 their elk mother was lying right outside of the tepee. 
 
 When the cold winter came the children could not 
 go out with Mother Elk, but had to stay in the tepee 
 and keep warm under the furs, while the Elk mother 
 went to eat whatever herbs or qrrasses she could find. 
 
THE OLD ELK MAMA. 
 
 1 1 liappcncd that sonic Indian hunters came o\'cr 
 the mountain just as the sun was gettnig up one morn- 
 ing. They could see far down in the valley a tepee. 
 Outside of the tepee were the sticks set in the ground, 
 and from them was hanging an old kettle. No smoke 
 was coming out of the smoke-hole m the tepee, and 
 the snow was piled way up over the kettle. 
 
 The hunters went down to see what the trouble 
 might be. Had all the Indians been killed ? There 
 were only elk-tracks around the lodge, and the)- saw 
 where the elk had been sleeping. The kettle had been 
 haneine for a lonij time, and there were no sio^ns of life. 
 
 They lifted the fly and walked in. There, lying 
 on the ground, just as close together as they could 
 get, were two little pappooses, amost hidden by their 
 covering of furs. The children were sleeping soundly 
 and looked as happy and comfortable as if they were 
 sleeping at their own home in the Indian \illage. 
 
 Mother Elk just came back at that moment and 
 called the children. They w^ent out and had their break- 
 fast; then the hunters picked them up and carried them 
 awav. Mother Elk watched them until she could see 
 them no more, and she was sad again, for she had lost 
 two more babies — at least she felt so, for she had been 
 the mother of the children so long. 
 
 The men carried the children back to the village 
 and gave them to their grandmother to bring up. When 
 the baby boy grew to be a big man they called him 
 "Elk" and made him chief of the elk clan, because, for 
 a little while, he had been the baby of a Mama Elk. 
 
The Punishment of the Coon. 
 
 One cold winter's day, a coon was travelllnof alone 
 through the forests. He was very much troubled by 
 fleas that kept biting his back, for he could not reach 
 them there, 
 
 " I will get you off yet ; you will see ! " said the 
 coon, and he 
 rubbed his back 
 aa;ainst the tree- 
 trunks ; but the 
 fleas only went 
 deeper into his 
 fur and bit harder. 
 Suddenly he 
 came upon a little 
 bark hut, far back 
 in the forest, and 
 he walked in and 
 sat down by the 
 
 fire. The old wo- ^ 
 
 man who owned 
 the hut asked what he wanted, and the coon answered : 
 
 " I am in great trouble. A great many fleas are 
 on my back, and I can neither reach them nor can 
 I rub them off". If you will pick them off for me, I 
 will give you my mittens of fur." 
 
 The poor old woman had a great many little 
 children, from a tiny baby just able to walk to her 
 eldest daughter who helped her a great deal. 
 
THE PUNISHMENT OF THE COON. 
 
 "II I hcl|) the coon," she thou^lit, " I can trade 
 his niiUcns and get somcthinf];' for my chikhxn to cat." 
 So she said to the coon ; " 1 will help you, but }"ou 
 must li^ive me your mittens." 
 
 The old woman began her task. The coon was 
 as large as a very big dog then, and his back was 
 covered with the wicked little fleas. They hid deep 
 in the fur, and the woman had to work hard. 
 
 At last the task was finished, and the coon gave 
 his mittens, bade the w^oman good-bye and started on 
 his journey. Soon his hands began to feel cold. 
 
 ** Was I not foolish to give my mittens for such 
 a small task ? " he thought ; but he travelled on. By 
 and by, he could stand the cold no longer, so he 
 went back again to the hut in the forest. There sat 
 the old woman in the opening. 
 
 " What do you want this time ? " she asked. 
 
 " I want my mittens again ; it is too cold to 
 travel without them ! 
 
 " I have traded your mittens for food for my 
 children," answered the mother. 
 
 The coon was angry, but he went away. " I will 
 watch until she goes out, then I w^ill go into the hut 
 and find my mittens," he thought ; and he hid in the 
 forest where nobody could see him. 
 
 Next day the woman said : " Children, the coon 
 must be far away by this time. I will go out and 
 gather berries for you to eat." The coon saw her leave 
 her home, and then he crept up to the house and 
 walked in. 
 
THE PUNISHMENT OF THE COON. 
 
 The children saw him ; so they ran out and hid in 
 the deepest brush — all but the smallest who could not 
 run but hid under a wooden bowl and kept very quiet. 
 
 The coon hunted all o\'er for the mittens and 
 could not find them. " If I find her babies, I will 
 make them tell where my mittens are," he said. At 
 last he found the baby under the w'ooden bowl : 
 " Where are my mittens ? " he asked, but she could 
 not even talk ; 
 she was so 
 small. " Tell 
 me w^here my 
 mittens are ! " 
 }• e 1 1 e d the 
 coon, and he 
 bit the baby's 
 cheek. That .^^^^ 
 
 made the 
 
 baby cry, and the coon ran away, because he knew 
 the mother would hurry home when she heard the 
 crying, and then she would know who had bitten the 
 baby. 
 
 When the mother heard her baby crying, she 
 hurried home and saw the h'\Q- bite in her little one's 
 cheek. She called her children ; but they did not an- 
 swer, and she thought they had all been killed. " Who 
 hurt my baby ? " asked the mother, and the little one 
 told by makino; sii^ns with its hands. 
 
 "It was the coon ! I will punish him," said the 
 woman, and off she ran into the forest for some Ion''- 
 
THE PUNISHMENT OF TMR COON. 
 
 switches. Then she started after the coon. She found 
 him. a great way off, resting on a rock near a hike. 
 
 " I ha\'e }-OLi ! Why did you kill my children and 
 hite my little one ? There ! there ! and there ! " and 
 the woman hit so hard that she raised great black and 
 blue stripes. 
 
 With each stroke the coon became smaller, and 
 when he was very small, the woman said : 
 
 " You will always carry the marks of my beating, 
 and neither you nor any of }'our family will e\'er grow 
 anv bii£iifer than \'ou are now." 
 
 The coon has remained small and carries the black 
 marks of his beating to this day. 
 
 The frogs in the lake heard the noise and came 
 to the top to see what could be the matter. The an- 
 imals of the forest, also crept out and watched. 
 
 " Croak, croak, croak ! " laughed the frogs, and 
 that made the coon terribly angry, so he answered ; 
 " I will eat you in the future and spare none of your 
 family ; " but the frogs onl}- laughed harder, and the 
 other animals laughed with them. 
 
 After the old woman \vas gone the coon rushed 
 at the frogs, but they splashed into the water out of his 
 reach. The foxes and bears rushed at him, laughing, 
 and the coon had to run and hide from the big ani- 
 mals, as he has had to do ever since. 
 
 Since then the little Indian children have hunted 
 the coon with their bows and arrows, for they love 
 to eat his flesh. 
 
QmfiEmnc^M 
 
The Old Woman and the Moose=Snake. 
 
 In a little village, on the shore of a great lake, 
 lived a poor old Indian woman. She had no friends 
 to love her, and, because she was so poor, nobody 
 would have anything to do with her. 
 
 One day, while she was sitting alone on the shore 
 
 of the lake, she saw 
 the great moose-snake 
 (M'sas-sook) stick his 
 head out of the water. 
 She was not afraid of 
 hmi, because he was 
 always good to the In- 
 dians ; but she knew 
 ^ -Ti^ there would be a great 
 
 storm, for, whenever 
 the snake rose straight out of the water, the thunder 
 and lightning came down to drive him back again. 
 
 M'sas-sook (king of the waters) had a gold medal 
 on each side of his head. The old woman saw them 
 shine, and she thought : " If I had those bright pieces 
 from the head of the moose-snake, I should always 
 have good luck. I wnll ask him for them." That 
 night, the old woman did not return to her hut, but 
 went into the forests and waited on the shore of a 
 small lake, through which she knew the moose-snake 
 would have to pass, on his w^ay over the mountams, 
 as he travelled from one body of water to another 
 
a THE OLD WOMAN AND THE MOOSE-SNAKE. 
 
 She could onlv think ot her troubles : — " How lonely 
 I am ; I haw no friends to comfort me, and, if it were 
 not lor m\- poor bark hut, the north winds would freeze 
 me, or the wild beasts would devour me. M'sas-sook 
 will take pity when he hears my story ; he is always 
 good to the Indians. What is that noise ! " She 
 turned and saw the great snake, coming toward her. 
 She was frightened when she saw him, with his great 
 moose-horns and big, round, snake body, and felt like 
 running away ; but she knew he would not hurt her. 
 
 M'sas-sook saw the woman, as he was about to 
 enter the lake. 
 
 "What do you want of me ?" he asked. 
 
 M'sas-sook, give me the golden medals from your 
 head. I need them very much ; all my people dislike 
 me because I am poor, and they will have nothing 
 to do with me. If you will give me your medals, 
 I shall be happy, and my people will be kind to me. 
 Please give me the medals ! 
 
 " I will let you take one of my medals, but I 
 must keep the other," said M'sas-sook, and the poor 
 woman took one of the medals from the head of the 
 great moose-snake. She thanked him for his kindness 
 and started for her village. She was a very happy old 
 woman, and she thought as she hurried along, " Now 
 my people will love me, and I shall have friends." 
 
 Night overtook her before she was out of the 
 woods ; so she lay down on the bank of a lake to rest. 
 She was tired and soon fell fast asleep ; but, suddenlv 
 she sat up and was wide awake in a moment. She 
 
THE OLD WOMAN AND THE MOOSE=SNAKE. 
 
 heard a strange noise ; what could it mean ? All 
 around her, staring through the darkness, were the 
 bright eyes of many wild animals. The old woman 
 was terribly frightened. 
 
 " What do you want of me ? " she asked. " You 
 have one of the medals from the head of the moose- 
 snake, and we have come to help you," answ^ered a 
 voice from one of the animals. 
 
 " You can do nothing for me, you are only an- 
 imals, and I am a poor, lonely old woman." 
 
 " We can give you furs and skins ; then you 
 will be rich among your people," answered the voice, 
 and each of the animals gave the woman meat and 
 furs, so she should have plenty. Then they stared 
 at her out of the darkness. 
 
 Thoufjh she knew M'sas-sook had sent the an- 
 imals, the old woman 
 was afraid. She gladly 
 w^elcomed the grey 
 dawn, when she bade 
 the animal people good- 
 bye, and started, on her 
 journey home, this time 
 with arms full of riches. 
 Her people were sur- 
 prised when she entered the village, and treated her 
 more kindly. She told how M'sas-sook had let her 
 take one of his medals, and then they knew she would 
 always have plent}^ of everything. 
 
 When darkness came again, she went to her poor 
 
4 THE OLD WOMAN AND THE MOOSE-SNAKE. 
 
 hut to sleep. She woultl not leave it, though many 
 of her people asked her to; for this bark hut had been 
 her onlv friend, and she would always lo\e it. With 
 the night came the many mysterious animals and the 
 great, staring eyes, looking out of the darkness. 
 "What do you want of me this time?" asked the 
 woman. "You have one of the medals from the head 
 of M'sas-sook, and we have come to help you," an- 
 swered a \H)ice from one of the animals. 
 
 "But, you gave me many things last night, and 
 I am rich among my people now!" 
 
 As they had done the night before, the animals left 
 many furs, skins, and a great deal of meat. Then they 
 stayed, staring through the night, until the morning light 
 broke through the darkness, when they disappeared, and 
 the woman did not know where they had come from, 
 nor where they had gone. When the people came to 
 see her, they saw all the things M'sas-sook had sent. 
 
 The old woman wore the medal about her neck, 
 fastened to a buckskin string, so that she should not 
 lose It. She loved to walk through the village and hear 
 the happy laughter of the children as they hurried to 
 greet her. Everybody and everything loved her; even 
 the dogs would try to push the children aside in their 
 eaeerness to be close to her, and she could never 
 thank the great snake enough for all her happiness. 
 
Who Makes the Echo ? 
 
 Turtle-dove, a young Indian mother, had two 
 Httle children whom she loved very dearly. When 
 she went into the forests to gather herbs and berries, 
 she always took them with her. She started for the 
 forests very early one morning and went farther than 
 usual. Because she was tired from carrying her sleep- 
 ing child on her back, she gave him to his little 
 
 sister and put 
 her under a 
 sage bush. 
 " Take care of 
 your brother 
 for me ; I will 
 be back soon," 
 said the mother, 
 and the child 
 promised she 
 would be kind to the little baby. 
 
 The mother wandered away and had gone some 
 distance, when the little girl saw an old woman, 
 standing in front of her. 
 
 "Is that your baby brother?" asked the old 
 woman. 
 
 The little girl was afraid ; she thought the woman 
 must be a witch, and witches took little boys away. 
 She held her little brother close and answered, " No, 
 this is my little sister." 
 
 " You naughty, naughty child, don't you know it 
 
WHO A\AKES THE ECHO? 
 
 Is \-cry wrong for little girls to say what is not true ?" 
 and the old witch looked so anirrv, that the little eirl 
 was frightened ; then the old woman seized the baby 
 brother and ran off with him. 
 
 She carried hnn to licr home, far up in tlie 
 mountain, and laid him on the ground. " I have 
 alwa}'S wanted a husband," said the witch. " I will 
 make this baby into a man, then I will marry 
 hmi." 
 
 She took the baby by one little leg and pulled 
 and pulled, until it was very long ; then she took the 
 other leg and stretched it, until both legs were the 
 same leno^th. The witch had made the babv into a 
 tall man, but he still had his baby arms ; so she 
 cauoht him bv the shoulders with one hand and with 
 the other pulled an arm. It grew longer and longer, 
 and she took the baby's other arm and pulled it in 
 the same way ; and soon her husband had long arms ! 
 
 Meanwhile Turtle-dove went back and found her 
 little daughter alone, sitting under the sage bush, cr)- 
 ing very hard because the baby was gone. 
 
 " Wdiere is my baby ? " asked the poor mother. 
 
 *' The witch took him away from me," answered 
 the little girl. The mother was almost crazy. 
 
 Turtle-dov^e's brother, the Eagle, travelled day and 
 night over all the land, and at last he heard a strange 
 voice. He went nearer and saw Sage-cock, the 
 witch's husband. Then he returned and told the 
 mother what he had seen and heard. 
 
 "If it be my baby, he will know mv voice," 
 
WHO MAKES THE ECHO? 
 
 said the mother, and she hurried to the place and 
 chmbed a cedar tree and began to mourn. 
 
 When the boy heard the sound of his mother's 
 voice, he cried : "I hear my mother ; my mother is 
 calHng me ! " Then the witch turned him back into a 
 baby and hid him in a hollow tree; and she too got into 
 it. " They will never look here for us," she thought. 
 
 " Sister," said the eagle, " before long the old 
 woman will be hungry ; then they will have to leave 
 their hiding-place. I will 
 put a rabbit in the top of 
 this tree, and then I wdl 
 cut off the bark and thm 
 the branches, so that the 
 witch will have a hard time 
 chmbmg for the food." 
 
 The witch smclled the 
 food and came out to find 
 it. She tried to climb the 
 tree, but it was very slip- 
 pery, and she would climb 
 up a little way, only to slip back again. 
 
 While the witch was trying to get the food, the 
 eagle took the baby from his hiding-place and carried 
 him to the delighted mother ; then he flew up into 
 the clouds and ordered a storm. 
 
 When the witch returned and found the baby 
 gone, she was angry and looked around for tracks ; 
 the rain had washed them all away, but it did not 
 hide the three feathers the eagle had dropped. 
 
4 WHO MAKES THE ECHO? 
 
 ** Now I know ! " cried the witch ; " It was the 
 eagle. I must go to my grantltathcr, the rattlesnake, 
 for protection. " 
 
 The rattlesnake was asleep on a njck, and did 
 not want to l)e disturbed, so when the witch called 
 him, he answered, " Go back to your home ; I do not 
 want you here ! " 
 
 " Oh, help me, grandfather, or the eagle will 
 catch me ! " begged the witch. 
 
 " Crawl into my stomach." The old witch did 
 as he told her, and then, the rattlesnake became so 
 ill that he feared he should die. He told her to come 
 out again, but she would not. At last, in his terrible 
 pain, he crawled out of his skin and left the witch 
 inside. When she found she could not get out of the 
 skin, she rolled about and hid in the rocks. 
 
 Since that day, the rattlesnakes lose their skins 
 every year. 
 
 The eagle was hunting for the old witch, and he 
 kept calling, " Old witch, old witch ! Where are 
 you ? " and the old witch mocked everything he said, 
 rolling farther and farther away all the time, so that 
 he could not find her. 
 
 Since then litde Indian children say it is only 
 ignorant people who think they hear the echo and do 
 not know it is only the angry witches they hear, 
 mocking them ; because the witches can never frighten 
 or carry off children any more. They cannot even 
 travel about in the sunshine, for they always have to 
 stav in their rattlesnake-skin homes. 
 
The Coyote Bringing Fire to the Red People. 
 
 There was once a time when the Indians had 
 no fire, but had to hvc on herbs, berries, plants and 
 such other things as could be eaten raw. They did 
 not eat fish or flesh, because they had no fire to cook 
 with. 
 
 When the cold winter came, the people could 
 not keep warm, and asked the animal people for some 
 
 -f^^ of their fire ; 
 -#^ -:*' 5. but the ani- 
 mals had none 
 to give. 
 
 The red peo- 
 ple knew where 
 fire was kept ; 
 but no man 
 had ever dared 
 go to the place where the Great Spirit had hidden it 
 in a casket and had set two old has^s on s^uard, so 
 that man could not steal it. 
 
 Now it happened that man had been very kind 
 to the coyote in his hour of need ; so the coyote 
 promised to bring the much-needed fire to man, and 
 called together all the animals. He told them how 
 he planned to get fire and asked if they would help 
 him, and as all the animals were willing, he selected 
 one of each kind, from the cougar down to the poor 
 little frog. 
 
 " I will station you all along the trail, from the 
 
2 THf: COVOTI; HRINCiINO F-IRE TO THR KHD PEOPLE. 
 
 settlement ot man to the distant home of the Great 
 vSpint, where the hags guard the hre," said the coyote. 
 " 1 he frog, because 'he is weakest, shall he stationed 
 nearest home, and so in turn each annual, until the 
 cougar shall ha\'e his {)ost nearest the fire — for you 
 are stronger than the others, cougar. I will steal the 
 fire and run wqth it to the cougar; he will take it 
 and })ass it on ; and each animal, in turn, will run 
 his best, so that the old hags cannot get the fire 
 away from hmi." 
 
 Then the coyote went to the Indian camp and 
 took one of the red men with him. He placed him 
 under a hill near the old hags' cabin, w^ent to the 
 door, and knocked. 
 
 One of the old hags opened the door, and the 
 coyote said, "Good evening." 
 
 " Good evening," answered the old woman. 
 
 "It is a cold night. Will you not let me come 
 In and sit by your fire ? " 
 
 " Yes ; come in," and the coyote went in and 
 stretched himself before the fire. He reached his 
 nose toward the warm blaze, sniffed the heat, and felt 
 very comfortable. Then he stretched his head along 
 his forepaws and pretended to sleep. 
 
 He kept the corner of one eye open to watch 
 the hags ; but, as they had been set by the Great 
 Spirit to watch the fire, they never slept day or 
 night. Thus the coyote's night of watching and 
 thinking was all to no purpose ; he might as well 
 have slept. 
 
THE COYOTE BRINGING FIRE TO THE RED PEOPLE. 3 
 
 Next morning he went out to the Indian whom 
 he had hidden under the hill, and said : " I have not 
 been successful ; the hags watch the fire all the time. 
 I will go back agam, and, when I am ni the cabin, 
 you must make a rush as if you were going to steal 
 some fire, and then, while they are trying to keep 
 you back, I will steal it." 
 
 That night the coyote went back again. He 
 knocked, and when he asked to go in again the hags 
 said he might ; for 
 they did not think 
 a c o )■ o t e could 
 steal fire. 
 
 He stood close 
 to the casket and, 
 when the Indian 
 made a great rush 
 toward the cabin, 
 the coyote seized a brand of fire in his teeth and ran 
 out of the other door. 
 
 He skimmed over the fjround ; but the old ha<js 
 saw the sparks flying and gave chase. They gained 
 on hini fast, and he was all out of breath, when he 
 reached the cougar, who did not lose an instant, but 
 ran to the next animal — the old hags always follow- 
 ing, and each animal having very little time to spare 
 before the hags came up. 
 
 Next to the last came the ground squirrel. He 
 snatched the burning brand from the rabbit, just as 
 the hags came up, and he almost flew along. He 
 
4 THE COVOTH BRINCjINQ FIRH TO TH:- RHD PEOPLE. 
 
 went so fast that his tail caught lire, and, as he held 
 it curled over his hack to kee|) it out of his way, it 
 burned a black spot behind his shoulders, which is 
 there to this da\-. 
 
 He was almost out of breath and so tired he 
 could not take another step, when he reached the 
 froQf. The hairs were almost at his heels. The fros^ 
 opened his mouth very wide, and the squirrel threw 
 the fire into it. lie swallowed it at a gulp and then 
 turned to take a great jump, for the poor fellow could 
 not run. 
 
 The hags were so close behind that they seized 
 him by the tail and tweaked it off, for he was a tad- 
 pole then, and that is the reason frogs have no tails 
 to this day. 
 
 The hags were sure of capturing their fire then ; 
 but, in the little moment they gave the frog, he 
 jumped into the water and swam under it for a long 
 time — as long as he could possibly hold his breath. 
 Then he came up and spat the fire into a log of drift- 
 wood, where it has staid ever since. 
 
 After that when the Indians wanted fire they 
 needed only to rub two sticks together, and the fire 
 rame forth. 
 
The Gratitude of Rabbit. 
 
 Poor little rabbit had lost his parents, and he 
 was all alone in the world. He was such a tiny little 
 
 fellow that 
 he c ou 1 d 
 not take 
 care of 
 hmiself or 
 find any- 
 thing to 
 
 An old 
 woman 
 was pass- 
 i n g his 
 home one day, and she heard baby rabbit crying. 
 
 "What is the matter?" she asked, and he answered, 
 " I am alone and have no one to help me get anything 
 to eat. I am so hungry!" 
 
 The woman took pity on the little fellow and 
 carried him home with her. "I have not much," she 
 said; "but I can always share what I have with a 
 fellow sufferer. " 
 
 She fed baby rabbit and grew to be very fond of 
 hmi. Little rabbit always lived with her, and he grew 
 and grew until he was very big; but he never helped 
 the woman bring food home — perhaps because she did 
 not ask him. 
 
 vv^^^. 
 
r.iH (JRATITL'DB OF RABHIT. 
 
 "What coLild a jxjor little fellow like that do? " 
 thought she. 
 
 As the years rolled hv, the woman kept getting 
 older and older, until it was \ery hard for her to supply 
 the tiniest bit of food, or to gather a few small twigs for 
 the fire. 
 
 One (Lay, after she had with difficulty stored up 
 a small sujjply of food and firewood, she said to rabbit: 
 
 " My son, I am getting very old, I cannot gather 
 any more herbs and berries, and, after we ha\e eaten 
 what I hav^e here, we shall have to starv^e;but let us 
 enjoy what we have. Then we can die together. " 
 
 So they lived on the little supply, and, when all 
 was gone and the fire out, rabbit said: "Mother, you 
 were kind to me in my time of need; now I will help 
 take care of you. I will catch you some fish if you wall 
 let me go. 
 
 The old woman said he might try ; but she thought : 
 "How can little rabbit catch fish?" 
 
 Rabbit took the net and set it in a lake where 
 he knew there were many fish ; then he returned home 
 for the night, bringing some berries for the old woman 
 to eat. Next morning, very early, he started for the 
 lake. When he reached his net, he lifted one corner 
 and found there was a fish in every mesh. He shook 
 out some, for he would not need so many at once, and 
 then he pulled in the net, gathered together the fish, 
 and started for home. 
 
 "See, mother, I have brought you many fish; 
 now we shall not starve for I can help you!" cried 
 
THE GRATITUDE OF RABBIT. 3 
 
 rabbit as he nearcd the hut. " That is nice," an- 
 swered the woman ; " but our fire is out, and we can- 
 not cook them." " I will get you some fire, while 
 you clean the fish." So rabbit bade the woman good- 
 bye and started for the river, carrying his net under 
 his arm. 
 
 When rabbit reached the river, he called the big 
 fish and told them to make a bridge, so that he could 
 cross the water. The fish did as rabbit said, and, 
 after he was on the other side, he told the fish to 
 swim away ; then he jumped into the water, so that 
 his fur should be wet, and lay down on the bank, 
 pretending to be dead. 
 
 He was not very far from an Indian village, and 
 soon the Indian children came to play on the sandy 
 bank. One of the 
 boys found rabbit, 
 carried him home ; 
 and told where he 
 had found him. 
 
 ** Carry him to jT' ^ 
 the iron kettle, n.^ 
 where there is a 
 big fire," said the 
 father, and the boy 
 put rabbit down to 
 skin him. 
 
 Poor rabbit was terribly frightened and opened 
 just a corner of one eye to see if there were any way 
 to escape. He saw a big round hole right in the 
 
THE GRATITUDE OF" RAIiMIT. 
 
 top of the tepee. Then he said, very softly : " Fire, 
 throw a spark upon my net ! " Instantly the firewood 
 snapped, and a great spark set his net on tire. Rab- 
 bit was afraid of the hre ; but he sprang out of the 
 hole in the top of the tepee and pulled the net out 
 after huii. 
 
 When the Indians saw they had been outwitted 
 by rabbit, they gave chase, and the little fellow had 
 to run faster and faster, so that when he came to the 
 bank of the river he could not stop himself but gave 
 one great leap and jumped clear over the river, and 
 the Indians could not catch him. Then he examined 
 his net, and the fire was still smouldering ; so he 
 hurried home, and the old woman fanned it back to 
 life again. Then rabbit gathered twigs and they kept 
 the fire burning. 
 
 So it was that rabbit showed his gratitude to the 
 old woman who had been kind to him. 
 
How a Mother Bear Saved a Little Red Baby. 
 
 One clay a young Indian lumter took an Indian 
 maiden for his wife, and the two started off for the 
 mountains, to hunt. They w^ere very successful in 
 gettmg furs and skins, and there had come to them 
 a dear little black-haired, black-eyed baby boy. 
 
 The little boy was about two years old, when 
 
 the papa and mama de- 
 cided to return to their 
 home. All the things 
 were packed ; the papa 
 lifted the baby to the 
 mother's back ; and off 
 they started. 
 
 One morning the 
 papa said : " We will 
 stay here. I see many 
 bear-tracks, and I must get a big bear." 
 
 The mother prepared to stay, and, while she was 
 busy, the boy played around the lodge ; but, w^hen 
 she looked up from her work, the baby was gone. 
 
 " He has gone into the lodge to sleep," thought 
 the woman. 
 
 Soon the papa returned and asked for his hoy. 
 " He has gone into the lodge to sleep," an- 
 swered the mother. 
 
 When the dish of dried-meat stew was set on 
 the mat, for the father to eat, he said : 
 
i HOW A MOTHRR BEAR 5AVED A LITTLE RED BABY. 
 
 " The- 1)()\' must be hungr\', I will call him. 
 Come, little warrior, eat! Father wants to see his 
 httle hunter." The ba])y did not answer, so the 
 hunter went to get his boy ; but the Ijaby was not 
 in the lodge. 
 
 The meal was forgotten, and both started to 
 search for him. 
 
 The baby had played around the lodge for a 
 long time, and he saw the little birds fl\'ing al:)out. 
 It was late in the autumn, and the dead leax'es were 
 lying all over the ground. As the little fellow trotted 
 through them, he thought they were singing to him ; 
 so he talked to them in his baby language, and they 
 became his friends. 
 
 He went on and on, as lomj as he heard the 
 sonQf of the leaves and the chatterinij of the little 
 birds. Often little rabbits jumped across his path ; 
 they were not afraid of such a little fellow and sat 
 upon their haunches to see what new kind of animal 
 he might be. 
 
 By and by, the birds went to sleep ; the forest 
 became dark ; and the little boy could not see. Then 
 he thought of his mama and papa and began to cry. 
 
 When a little child cries because he is hungry, 
 his voice often sounds like that of a baby bear. 
 
 A big mama bear was just coming through the 
 leaves, and, when she heard the baby crying, she 
 began to hunt f)r what she thought was a lost baby 
 bear, and at last she found him. 
 
 She took him in her arms and curled her furrv 
 
HOW A MOTHER BEAR SAVED A LITTLE RED BABY. 3 
 
 body around him, so that he should be warm, and 
 he stopped crying and fell sound asleep. 
 
 When the little fellow awakened in the mornino-. 
 he seemed contented. 
 
 The mother bear was sure this funny little bear 
 w^as hungry, so she tried to get the baby to follow 
 her, but he did not understand. She went to the 
 little boy's side, raised herself on her hind legs, and 
 walked away, just as she wanted the baby to do ; but 
 the boy thought this was so 
 funny that he only laughed. 
 When the bear saw that 
 the baby did not follow her, i^ 
 she went back on her four 
 legs and started over again, 
 
 and this she did until the 'M^^,.,^:-.-,..., im l^ v 
 
 boy understood and trotted <*l(iP^^8Kf' ^i*^ 
 
 after her. As long as the baby followed, the mother 
 bear went right on, but when he stopped she went 
 back to ofet him aijain. 
 
 At last they reached the beech-nut grove, and the 
 mother bear took her big paw and brushed away the 
 leaves until she found many beech-nuts. The baby 
 saw the mama bear take a mouthful of nuts and eat 
 them; so he thought he would try some too. How 
 good they tasted to the hungry baby. 
 
 Bye and bye the bear coaxed the baby to a 
 streamlet, put her mouth to the water and drank ; 
 then baby got dow^n on his hands and knees and 
 drank as he saw the bear do. 
 
4 HOW A MOTHER BEAR SAVED A LITTLE RED BABY. 
 
 When night came on the hear took the child to 
 her ca\'e in the mountain, took him in her arms and 
 kept him warm until morning. 
 
 The boy was happy, and he did not miss his mother 
 and father who had searched, as they thought, all 
 through the forests. They looked for man)- days 
 without success and at last started for their home, 
 mourning. They thought their baby must have died 
 of hunger and cold, or else the w^ild beasts had 
 eaten it. 
 
 The mother told her people what had happened 
 and asked, "What shall we do?" "Go ask the 
 wizard, — he will know, for he is a very wise man." 
 
 The mother and father took furs and skins 
 as presents, and went to the wizard's hut. He was 
 sitting before a low fire, stirring herbs for medicine. 
 "O grandfather," begged the unhappy mother, "tell 
 me is our little one dead, or is he still alive?" 
 
 The old man answered : "Your child is alive, he Is 
 well ; go into the forest, search, and you will find him." 
 
 The mother and father hurried, and all the peo- 
 ple followed to the camp where the baby had been 
 lost ; then men, women, and children hunted in all 
 du'ections. 
 
 One day an Indian reached the beech-nut grove, 
 where the bear was gathering nuts ; she led the way 
 to her cave, and there was the lost baby. 
 
 The boy grew up to be a great hunter ; but he 
 always respected the bears and would never hurt or 
 kill them, for they had saved his baby life. 
 
Why Ducks Have Short Tails and the Coon 
 Must Go Barefooted. 
 
 Ever since the coon was made small he has 
 played all sorts of tricks on the animal people, to get 
 the kind of food he liked best. Once he caught a 
 frog sitting upon a rock by the side of a lake. In 
 the lake lived many little fish, and the coon wanted 
 them ; so he told the frog to go down into the water 
 and tell the fish to shut their eyes and swmi about 
 in the warm, 
 
 spring sun- . , .,...,_ . -- 
 
 shine. 
 
 "If you prom- 
 ise to do as I 
 say," said the 
 coon, " I will 
 let you go." 
 
 Of course the 
 frog did not 
 want to be 
 
 eaten ; so he promised, and down he went into the 
 water and sent the poor little fish to be eaten by the 
 hungry coon. They swam to the top, and, before any 
 of them knew what was happening, the coon had eaten 
 all he wanted. That was why the fish became ene- 
 mies of the froo^, and now the fish eat froijs whenever 
 they catch them. 
 
 After the coon had eaten all the breakfast he 
 
3 WHY DUCK5 HAVE SHORT TAILS AND THE COON MUST (lO IJAKEFOOl LL) 
 
 wanted, he went to sleep and did not awaken all tlay 
 imtil it was getting dark ; then he opened his eyes 
 and hurried to find his SLH)per, for he was hungry 
 ao^ain. " I will look for a froor," he thouuht, aiul 
 hunted all around the lake ; but he could not find one. 
 Then he put his hands into all the little holes around 
 the edge, and still he could not catch a frog. 
 
 " I must have some more fish," said the coon. 
 " Frogs, frogs ! " but the frogs were afraid to come 
 and only answered, " croak, croak." 
 
 " They say, ' Drink ! Drink ! ' " thought the 
 coon, and he went to the water to drink. Then he 
 called again. 
 
 " Croak, croak, croak," answered the frogs, 
 
 " Wh)' do you sav, 'drink more water ' .'^ I can- 
 not drink any more, I am hungry ! " 
 
 " Croak, croak, croak," answered the frogs. 
 
 " I will not listen to your stupid, ' Croak, croak, 
 croak,' I am hungry ! " called the coon impatiently. 
 
 As the coon started to go away, he looked far 
 out on the lake, and there he saw some ducks swim- 
 ming about, with their beautiful long tails spread out 
 on top of the water. Ducks had long tails in those 
 days, and they were very proud of them. " I shall 
 get some supper now," thought the delighted coon. 
 " I will play a trick on those vain old ducks." So 
 he built a good big fire on top of a little ridge, and 
 then he lay down, pretending to be dead. He knew 
 the inquisitive ducks would want to find out what it 
 all mio'ht mean. Pretty soon the ducks saw the fire 
 
WHY DUCKS HAVE SHORT TAILS AND THE COON MUST GO BAREFOOTED. 3 
 
 and started for the shore. They stopped every little 
 while to eat something floating on top of the water — 
 perhaps a frog, some wild celery or rice — and it took 
 them a long time. When they finally reached the 
 shore they looked around. Everything seemed all 
 right there ; so they shook the water off their backs, 
 settled their 
 feathers and 
 then shook 
 their fine long 
 tails. 
 
 " Ouack," 
 said the lead- 
 er. That 
 surely meant, 
 " Follow me," 
 in their lan- 
 guage, for all 
 the ducks fol- 
 lowed, and such a quacking you never heard ! They 
 were not at all polite; but all talked together, each 
 trying to tell first what that strange light might mean. 
 
 In the mean while the big fire the coon had built 
 began to spread. It got closer and closer to the coon ; 
 but he did not dare move, lest he should frighten 
 the ducks. 
 
 "If they will only hurry ! This fire is burning 
 my feet. I can stand it no longer ! " and up jumped 
 the coon on the rocks. Then he ran as fast as he 
 could eo. 
 
4 WHY DUCKS HAVE SHORT TAILS AND THE COON MUST GO [iAREFOOTED. 
 
 " Quack! " cried the leader. " Quack," answered 
 the others, and they ran as fast as their waddh ng little 
 legs would carry them. The coon kept getting nearer 
 and nearer. He could ran much faster than the 
 ducks, and he would have caught them if the fire had 
 not got quite so hot. As it was he just caught the 
 leader by his beautiful long tail. The duck was so 
 anxious to get away that he pulled as hard as he could, 
 and the tail came out. Since that day ducks have 
 short tails. 
 
 A little Indian village was not far away, and, 
 when the boys saw this big fire on top of a hill in 
 the woods, they hurried out to see what it might 
 mean. When they reached the lake, they saw the 
 coon standing there with a handful of feathers, while 
 the ducks and their leader who had lost his beautiful 
 tail were swimming off. How the boys did laugh ! 
 and when they looked at the coon's hands and feet, 
 they were bare. He had left the hair and skin where- 
 ever he had jumped on the rocks. 
 
 " Now you will alwa)'S have to go barefooted, 
 because you play so many mean tricks on the little 
 animal people who are weaker than you are." And 
 the coon has had to go barefooted ever since as a 
 punishment. 
 
 The hair and skin that he left upon the rocks 
 started to grow, and now people who do not know 
 what they really are, call them lichens and mosses. 
 
The Punishment of the Rabbit for 
 Disobeying. 
 
 " I have one arrow through the ring, and I am 
 going to try to beat you to-day. Yesterday I was 
 far behind, and you laughed at me ; now I will catch 
 up and may get ahead ; but we must stop, for here 
 comes our grandfather." 
 
 Little Indian children have no schools, as their 
 
 white brothers have, 
 and, when an old man 
 of the tribe happens 
 on a group of chil- 
 dren, he stops to in- 
 struct them and give 
 them good advice. 
 
 " My children, lis- 
 ten ! " and all the 
 children left their play 
 to hear all the old 
 man had to tell them. 
 *' You must always be 
 courageous, above all 
 things ; but you must 
 also obey your parents and your elders. 
 
 "Your grandmother has not told you how it hap- 
 pened that the rabbit has such long ears ; so I shall 
 have to, for I heard your mother calling you yester- 
 day, my boy, and you did not answer. If you do 
 
 ^ # 
 
2 THE PUNISHMENT OF THE RAHIilT I-OR DISOBEYING. 
 
 not ol)c'\\ you mav l)c i)unishccl, cv^cn as was the ral)- 
 bit who (h(l not ol)c\' his superiors. 
 
 " Listen closely and reniemher! A very long 
 time ai^'o the rabbit had short ears. One morning 
 the owl, who is a very w^ise bird and was the head 
 of the animal people, called the chiefs of all the dif- 
 ferent animal clans to council. He told them to meet 
 at a certain place, as some very important things for 
 the welfare of the animal people were to be decided. 
 
 " At the appointed time, the owl went to the 
 gathering and looked o\'er all the chiefs to see if any 
 were missing. 
 
 " ' Where is the rabbit ? ' he asked. 
 
 " No one had seen him, and all knew he had 
 not been there. 
 
 " ' I must go to get him then,' said the wise old 
 bird. ' Rabbit \ Rabbit ! ' he called, but the rabbit 
 was hiding in a hollow log. He was sleepy and did 
 not \vant to be disturbed. 
 
 " * Rabbit ! Rabbit ! ' called the owl again, and 
 the rabbit thought, ' I will pretend I am asleep, and, if 
 I do not come, they will hold council without me.' 
 
 *' But the owl called again, and still he received 
 no answer. ' Rabbit, do you not hear me call ?' Then 
 the owl became impatient and he said, ' Rabbit, if 
 you do not obey, and come to council at once, your 
 ears will grow. They will keep on growing, too, un- 
 til you answer and come.' 
 
 " The rabbit only laughed to himself. ' How can 
 that stupid owl make my ears grow, I should like to 
 
THE PUNISHMENT OF THE RABBIT FOR DISOBEYING. 
 
 ^ He would like to friuhten me. since he 
 
 e to frighten me, since ne can- 
 
 Know : lie would 11 
 
 not find me ! ' and the rabbit did not answer. 
 
 " Pretty soon the rabbit's ears began to feel very 
 queer. ' What can be the matter with my ears ? ' he 
 cried, ' I believe they are really growing. What shall 
 I do ? I would better answer. So he said, ' I hear, 
 Owl ; I hear. I am 
 coming!' and he went 
 to council. 
 
 " After he had an- 
 swered, his ears 
 stopped growing ; but 
 oh ! how the animals 
 laughed when they 
 saw him, with those 
 great long ears ! 
 
 " The rabbit befreed 
 the owl to make the 
 ears short again, but ^ • .j- 
 
 he would not be - "" 
 
 coaxed, and the rabbit has had to carry long ears to 
 this day, just because he did not obey the owl. 
 
 " Now, my children, you must obey your parents, 
 or your ears may grow long like the rabbit's." 
 
 The children sat C[uietly until the old man turned 
 his back and started to walk away. Then they went 
 on with their game, each resolving that his ears should 
 not grow long. 
 
Why the Antelope lost his Dew=CIaws and 
 the Deer his Qall=Bag'. 
 
 Many, many years ago the antelope and the deer 
 used to visit one another, but whenever they met they 
 always quarrelled as to who could run the faster. 
 
 In those days the little red people used to play 
 at games with the animal people, and whenever they 
 heard the deer and the antelope quarrelling they would 
 hurry along, hoping to see the two friends run a race, 
 and so settle the dispute ; but they were always dis- 
 appointed, and never dared suggest a race, for it 
 
 would be very 
 wrong, so Indian 
 mamas and papas 
 say, for little peo- 
 ple to tell their 
 elders what to do. 
 The antelope 
 always lived on 
 - _ the prairies, and 
 
 the deer had his 
 home in the wooded lands and in the mountainous 
 country, where he was regarded as very fleet of foot. 
 He knew he could outrun any of the animal peoph 
 living near his home, so why could he not beat the 
 antelope ? 
 
 One day the antelope went to visit the deer. 
 They were enjoying each other's company very much, 
 
2 WHY ANTELOPE LOST HIS DEW-CLAWS AND THE DEER HIS GALL-BAO. 
 
 wlu-n. !)}■ sonic unhappy accident, or, j)crhaps mtcn- 
 tionallv, one of the red chikh'cn who had gathered 
 around them broufrht the race into the conversation, 
 
 " I know I can beat you," said the deer. 
 
 The antelope answered: "That is all foohshness; 
 I can run much faster than you. I will het my dew- 
 claws that I can beat you in a race." "That is well; 
 let us run," said the deer. 
 
 So off they started, over mountains and through 
 the thick timber and brush. 
 
 The little red people, who had always been beaten 
 in races wath the deer, knew their friend would win ! 
 Had they not li\'ed in his home all their little li\'es, 
 and had they not seen him run races with all the 
 animal people and all the little red people? The 
 antelope could not beat the deer! But this race was 
 the very thing they had hoped for so long ; now, 
 every one should know who could run the faster, and 
 perhaps the trouble between the antelope and the 
 deer would stop forever. 
 
 The race was shorter than the little people had 
 expected. The antelope was not used to such thick 
 brush and dense timber, and it seemed to hold him 
 back. Perhaps the brush and timber did not want 
 their friend the deer beaten, and made it hard for the 
 antelope to push through. At any rate, he was left 
 way behind and lost the race. 
 
 "You have won," he said, turning to the deer, 
 "and here are my dew-claws; but come and visit me 
 in my home on the prairie. There I can beat you!" 
 
WHY ANTELOPE LOST HIS DEW=CLAWS AND THE DEER HIS GALL-BAG. 3 
 
 Since that day the antek^pe has no dew-claws. 
 
 The httle people did wish they could go with 
 the deer when he went to \isit the antelope, for it 
 would be such fun to see another race. But they 
 had to be satisfied to leave the next race for the little 
 red people who lived on the plains to see. 
 
 When the antelope reached home, he was very 
 sad and told his little red brothers and his little ani- 
 mal brothers just what had happened. They were 
 all very sorry for the poor antelope, and, they knew 
 somethinq; must have been wronor; for no animal or 
 boy had ever beaten him. The friends watched every 
 day for the deer, and soon they saw him coming 
 over the prairie to visit the antelope. 
 
 As soon as the antelope had welcomed his friend 
 to his home, he began 
 making excuses for hav- 
 insf lost, declarinor that 
 he could outrun the 
 deer easily. The deer, 
 because he had beaten 
 the antelope once, 
 thought it would be an 
 easy task to do so again. 
 
 "Very well," he said. 'T will bet my gall-bag 
 that I can run faster than you." 
 
 "Let us start!" cried the antelope. 
 
 The little red people were very desirous of seeing 
 their antelope friend beat the deer, for they w^erc 
 sure he could. 
 
 1 >i 
 
4 WHY ANTELOPE LOST HIS DEW-CLAWS AND THE DEER HIS OALL-liAU. 
 
 Away they raced over the prairies. Poor httle 
 deer, he was not used to running over the flat prairies, 
 and in the open country, where he was not hindered 
 by brush and trees; the antelope was the fleeter. 
 The deer became very tired and lost the race ; for, 
 in his own country, the antelope could outrun any 
 animal. The deer handed his gall-bag to the ante- 
 lope, and to this day he has none. 
 
 The little red brothers were happy again, and 
 their antelope friend was no longer sad. His people 
 had seen him outrun the deer. 
 
 Since that day the antelope and the deer have 
 not quarrelled about fleetness; for each knows that 
 he can outrun the other in his own home. 
 
The Little Red Boy and His Wolf Friend. 
 
 A small band of Indians went into the forests to 
 hunt one summer, and among them were a young 
 
 mother and her little 
 boy who was just 
 passing his sixth sum- 
 mer. The m other 
 loved her boy dearly, 
 and all the more did 
 she love him because 
 he was ill. 
 
 When she went 
 with her husband, to help him with the game he might 
 kill, she left her baby in the care of an old woman, and 
 told her to look after the little one well until she should 
 return agam. 
 
 At such times, the little fellow would take some 
 food in his little hands, and wander off into the woods. 
 It was not long before he became acquamted with the 
 annual people, and he loved them very much ; but the 
 wolves were especially kind to him, and would talk to 
 him or play all day long, and at night walk with him, 
 almost to the encampment ; but they would not go home 
 with the boy, because they knew the man people would 
 shoot them. 
 
 One morning, when the beautiful summer had 
 passed by and the blue man of the north, as the Indian 
 children call winter, had announced, in the deep \'oice 
 
a THE LITTLE RED BOY AND HIS WOLF FRIEND. 
 
 of the West Wind, that he was coming, the hunters told 
 the people that thev would mo\'e on toward home, and 
 that the old people and l)o\s should pack the thmgs 
 and follow with the children. The mother bade her 
 boy good-bve, and told him to be good, sa\ ing that they 
 would soon be together agam. 
 
 When all were ready to start, the bo)' saw the old 
 woman })ut on her moccasins, and he asked, " When 
 will \'ou ])ut on mv moccasuis ? " "I will do it 
 soon," answered the woman, but, after all the people 
 had gone, she left camp. " You have not put on my 
 moccasins," said the boy ; but the woman answered, 
 " I am not going to put on your moccasins, I am 
 tired taking care of you. You will never be a big 
 hunter." He was afraid when he saw the old woman 
 leave him all alone, and tried to follow her; but the 
 snow hurt his feet, and he had to go back. " How 
 I wish I had gone with m\' mother," he thought ; 
 " but she will come back, and my father will come, 
 when they see I have been left behind." So he sat 
 down to wait. 
 
 He w^as crying bitterly — he was so cold and hun- 
 gry — when he felt the soft fur of some animal rubbing 
 against his bare little legs. He looked up, and there 
 was his friend, the wolf. How glad he was to see 
 the animal ! and the wolf told him to stop crying:— "I 
 will take you to your father and mother, for you have 
 been kind to me." 
 
 The boy was glad ; he jumped upon the w^olf's 
 back, and off they started over the trail the Indians 
 

 III /l:^ 
 
THE LITTLE RED BOY AND HIS WOLF FRIEND. 
 
 had made. As they were travelHng along, the httle 
 boy saw a porcupine in a tree. " Get me that por 
 CLipine," he said ; but the wolf answered, " No, it will 
 take too long," and on they went. Before long the 
 boy saw a rabbit. " Get me that rabbit, my friend ; I 
 am so hungr\-." The wolf put the boy on the ground 
 and caught the rabbit. " Cook it," he said, and when 
 the boy had cooked the rabbit, he turned to the wolf 
 and asked, "Which part do you like best ? " and the 
 boy gave the wolf the parts he wanted, and ate the 
 rest himself. Then they lay down to sleep. 
 
 In the morning, they started on their journey 
 again, and the boy used the rabbit skin to cover his 
 feet, so they should not be so cold. The wolf travelled 
 along very swiftly, and, just at night, overtook the 
 camp. He carried the boy to his father's tepee, and 
 the little fellow ran in. There he saw his father and 
 mother mourning, for they were sad because the old 
 woman told them their boy had fallen in, in crossing a 
 
 stream, and had drowned be- 
 fore she could reach him. 
 
 When they saw the boy, 
 they were glad, and asked how 
 he had got to them again. 
 " The wolf brought me, and 
 he is waiting outside," an- 
 swered the boy. " Go out 
 and ask the wolf to come into my tepee," said the 
 father to the woman ; but the wolf would not come 
 for her, so she said : " I see some one out there, but 
 
4 THE LITTLE RED BOY AND HIS WOLF FRIEND. 
 
 I don't know wlio It is." " Go," said the father to 
 his son, " brini^ }'OLir friend in " ; and the boy per- 
 suaded the wolf to go with him. 
 
 When he was In the tepee, the wolf said to the 
 ^Id woman : " You had better call nie ' some one,' 
 when vou are no one, to leave that poor child in the 
 cold, to starve and freeze, because vou were tired of 
 taking care of hnri." 
 
 The father and mother heard what the wolf said, 
 and then they knew what the old woman had done. 
 They were very angry, and, after thanking the wolf 
 for his kindness to their boy, they gave him great 
 quantities of meat and provisions for the wmter. Be- 
 ft)re he left, they told him if e\'er he were in need of 
 food to come to them, and they would give him part 
 of what they had. Then they bade him good-bye. 
 
 As for the old woman, when the Indians started 
 for home next day, the mother took her boy with her ; 
 but leit the woman, without moccasins or provisions, 
 to perish in the cold, just as she had tried to have 
 the babv do. 
 
The Punishment of the Otters. 
 
 Once there were four brothers who always lived 
 In the forest. The three eldest brothers hunted, while 
 the youngest one stayed behind to watch the camp, 
 gather firewood, prepare the meals, and make arrows. 
 One day, while the young brother was out In the 
 swamps, looking for wood with which to make arrows, 
 
 he was attracted by 
 a queer little sound, 
 as if a woman 
 were singing. He 
 looked around and 
 found a beautiful 
 young Indian girl, 
 sitting under a tree. 
 "What are you 
 doing alone, away 
 out here In the forests?" he asked. 
 
 The girl answered that she had no home and 
 was only wandering about ; so the young hunter asked 
 her to go home with him, but the girl was afraid. 
 
 " My brothers and I have a lodge In the forest, 
 If you will share It with us, you can be our sister 
 and we will be very kind to you, " urged the young 
 red man. 
 
 At last, the girl decided to go with him, and 
 they walked along until they reached the lodge, which 
 was to be this young girl's new home. 
 
a THE PUNISHMENT OF THE OTTERS. 
 
 When the brothers came home and saw their new 
 sister, the\- were glad to welcome and provide for her 
 as the\- had nex'er had a sister of their own. 
 
 The new sister did all their work and cooked for 
 them, and it was not long before they lov^ed her very 
 dearl}'. The youngest brother was always left at home 
 to make arrows for the hunters and to take care of the 
 sister. 
 
 One day after the young red man had used all 
 his arrow wood, he said to his sister: "I must leave 
 you for a little while to-day, my sister; I must search 
 for wood. Lie on your bed of furs and rest until I 
 come back," and then he started toward the swamp. 
 
 He was gone longer than he expected. He knew 
 the lodge was safe and that he need not hurry, for 
 had he not a sister at home who would prepare the 
 evening meal for his hungry brothers ? 
 
 When the brothers reached home, they saw no 
 smoke from the fire, so they hurried along, calling, 
 "Sister, Sister"; but she did not answer. They 
 rushed into the lodge ; she was gone ! 
 
 In search of her they went over the mountains 
 and far into the plains, but finding no trace of her, 
 they returned to their lodge and lay down for a little 
 rest. They had all fallen asleep but the eldest brother, 
 and he lay awake, trying to think if there were any 
 places they had not searched, when he heard some one 
 weeping. 
 
 "Brothers," he called softly, "I think I hear our 
 sister crying. Listen!" 
 
THE PUNISHMENT OF THE OTTERS. 
 
 The}' listened, and surely they heard her in their 
 own lodge ; the eldest brother gently lifted her bed of 
 furs ; but, instead of finding his sister under it, he 
 found a great hole, wide enough to crawl through. 
 
 The sound seemed to come from this hole, and 
 he said: "Stay here, while I find out whither this 
 hole leads." 
 
 The young man crept along very carefully, and 
 each step seemed to brmg him closer and closer to 
 the sound, until the hole opened into a large room, 
 and there, lying tightly bound with ropes made from the 
 wild grapevine, was the poor sister crying \'ery hard. 
 
 " How did you get down here, my sister?" asked 
 the young man. "Our youngest brother left me in 
 the lodge while he went to gather wood for arrows. 
 I was lying on my skin bed, when the otters dug a 
 hole and pulled me through 
 the ground. 
 
 "There are four otter 
 brothers. One is white, and, 
 when he enters, a white light 
 flashes from his eyes into the 
 room ; the red otter casts a 
 red light over everything; the 
 yellow brother throws a yellow light; 
 comes the black otter. He has no light, and is the 
 poorest. The other otters have all been cruel to me, 
 and, if it had not been for their poor little black 
 brother, I should not be alive 
 SOU]) when the other's were away. 
 
 and last of all 
 
 He brought food and 
 
THE PUNISHMENT OF THE OTTERS. 
 
 "Aly poor little sister! II a\c courage for a little 
 while, and I will return and punish the wicked otters." 
 The Indian went back to the lodge. 
 
 "Brothers," said he, "the otters have stolen our 
 sister! Come, \vc will })unish them." 
 
 Each took a heavy club, and they went dowm 
 to the sister's prison. First they unbound their sister, 
 and then they waited; at last they heard a slight 
 noise; then there came a white light. Up went the 
 clubs, and soon the white otter was dead. 
 
 In a short time the room began to brighten with 
 a soft red light. The red brother was coming, and 
 the hunters w^ere ready for him. 
 
 The yellow light was already upon them, and 
 the yellow otter might have escaped had he suspected 
 any danger, but the brothers were quick, and the 
 three wicked otter brothers were dead. 
 
 The black otter took longer to come; he was 
 carrying some food for the poor prisoner. The brothers 
 could hear him ; but, as he gave no light, they did 
 not know how close he might be. They waited quietly, 
 and at last they saw him stick his head through the 
 opening, when they caught him with their hands and 
 soon they w^ere all on their way to the upper w^orld. 
 
 The black otter was unhappy, for he did not like 
 being a prisoner and asked the brothers to let him go. 
 
 "Yes," said the eldest brother, "because you were 
 kind to our sister, we will take pity on you, and free you." 
 
 Since then all the otter people have been black, 
 because he was the father of all otters. 
 
^^ IN It I A T -n ~~ 
 OVERDUE. ° ""O ON -^HE 6e^';^;°"''TH 
 
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 co3iaiQ'=i6^ 
 
 M57,'503 
 
 THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY 
 
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