Another night had come, and I made my way toward War Eagle's lodge. In
the bright moonlight the dead leaves of the quaking-aspen fluttered
down whenever the wind shook the trees; and over the village great
flocks of ducks and geese and swan passed in a never-ending procession,
calling to each other in strange tones as they sped away toward the
waters that never freeze.
In the lodge War Eagle waited for his grandchildren, and when they had
entered, happily, he laid aside his pipe and said:
"The Duck-people are travelling to-night just as they have done since
the world was young. They are going away from winter because they
cannot make a living when ice covers the rivers.
"You have seen the Duck-people often. You have noticed that they wear
fine clothes but you do not know how they got them; so I will tell you
to-night.
"It was in the fall when leaves are yellow that it happened, and long,
long ago. The Duck-people had gathered to go away, just as they are
doing now. The buck-deer was coming down from the high ridges to visit
friends in the lowlands along the streams as they have always done. On
a lake OLD-man saw the Duck-people getting ready to go away, and at
that time they all looked alike; that is, they all wore the same
colored clothes. The loons and the geese and the ducks were there and
playing in the sunlight. The loons were laughing loudly and the diving
was fast and merry to see. On the hill where OLD-man stood there was a
great deal of moss, and he began to tear it from the ground and roll it
into a great ball. When he had gathered all he needed he shouldered
the load and started for the shore of the lake, staggering under the
weight of the great burden. Finally the Duck-people saw him coming
with his load of moss and began to swim away from the shore.
"'Wait, my brothers!' he called, 'I have a big load here, and I am
going to give you people a dance. Come and help me get things ready.'
"'Don't you do it,' said the gray goose to the others; 'that's OLD-man
and he is up to something bad, I am sure.'
"So the loon called to OLD-man and said they wouldn't help him at all.
"Right near the water OLD-man dropped his ball of moss and then cut
twenty long poles. With the poles he built a lodge which he covered
with the moss, leaving a doorway facing the lake. Inside the lodge he
built a fire and when it grew bright he cried:
"'Say, brothers, why should you treat me this way when I am here to
give you a big dance? Come into the lodge,' but they wouldn't do that.
Finally OLD-man began to sing a song in the duck-talk, and keep time
with his drum. The Duck-people liked the music, and swam a little
nearer to the shore, watching for trouble all the time, but OLD-man
sang so sweetly that pretty soon they waddled up to the lodge and went
inside. The loon stopped near the door, for he believed that what the
gray goose had said was true, and that OLD-man was up to some mischief.
The gray goose, too, was careful to stay close to the door but the
ducks reached all about the fire. Politely, OLD-man passed the pipe,
and they all smoked with him because it is wrong not to smoke in a
person's lodge if the pipe is offered, and the Duck-people knew that.
"'Well,' said Old-man, 'this is going to be the Blind-dance, but you
will have to be painted first.
"'Brother Mallard, name the colors--tell how you want me to paint you.'
"'Well,' replied the mallard drake, 'paint my head green, and put a
white circle around my throat, like a necklace. Besides that, I want a
brown breast and yellow legs: but I don't want my wife painted that
way.'
"OLD-man painted him just as he asked, and his wife, too. Then the
teal and the wood-duck (it took a long time to paint the wood-duck) and
the spoonbill and the blue-bill and the canvasback and the goose and
the brant and the loon--all chose their paint. OLD-man painted them
all just as they wanted him to, and kept singing all the time. They
looked very pretty in the firelight, for it was night before the
painting was done.
"'Now,' said OLD-man, 'as this is the Blind-dance, when I beat upon my
drum you must all shut your eyes tight and circle around the fire as I
sing. Every one that peeks will have sore eyes forever.'
"Then the Duck-people shut their eyes and OLD-man began to sing: 'Now
you come, ducks, now you come--tum-tum, tum; tum-tum, tum.'
"Around the fire they came with their eyes still shut, and as fast as
they reached OLD-man, the rascal would seize them, and wring their
necks. Ho! things were going fine for OLD-man, but the loon peeked a
little, and saw what was going on; several others heard the fluttering
and opened their eyes, too. The loon cried out, 'He's killing us--let
us fly,' and they did that. There was a great squawking and quacking
and fluttering as the Duck-people escaped from the lodge. Ho! but
OLD-man was angry, and he kicked the back of the loon-duck, and that is
why his feet turn from his body when he walks or tries to stand. Yes,
that is why he is a cripple to-day.
"And all of the Duck-people that peeked that night at the dance still
have sore eyes--just as OLD-man told them they would have. Of course
they hurt and smart no more but they stay red to pay for peeking, and
always will. You have seen the mallard and the rest of the
Duck-people. You can see that the colors OLD-man painted so long ago
are still bright and handsome, and they will stay that way forever and
forever. Ho!"