out breathlessly.
But his father looked on soberly while the thing went through all its
usual antics, and the little boy laughed harder and harder, until at
last he rolled and rolled on the sandy beach, almost dead with
laughter.
"Papa," he gasped, "if you do not stop this funny thing I shall die!"
Then the father picked up his bow and strung it. He gave one more look
at his boy, who was gasping for breath; then he fitted a sharp arrow to
the bow and pierced the little Laugh-maker to the heart. He went out and
took the skin, and they returned in silence to the camp of the Bears.
Now the next time that the herald called upon the Bears to "go
a-laughing," the skin of the Laugh-maker was almost dry, but they knew
nothing of it. They went away as usual, and left the young man alone
with his son. But he, knowing that his wife's kinsfolk would kill him
when they discovered what he had done, took the skin for a quiver and
went homeward with his child.
TWENTY-SECOND EVENING
THE RUNAWAYS
TWENTY-SECOND EVENING
"Some say," remarks Grandfather, "that the hero of the story I am about
to tell you is the same as the kind-hearted young man of whom you heard
not long ago--Mashtinna, the Rabbit. You will remember that he was
uncommonly handsome as well as generous. This time he falls in love, and
there is a wicked old woman in the way; but you will learn some day that
true love is able to defy and to outwit all its enemies!"
THE RUNAWAYS
There was once a young man who had journeyed a long way from home in
search of adventure. One day he came to a strange village on the border
of a great wood, but while yet some distance from the lodges, he
happened to glance upward. In the boughs of a tree just above his head
he saw a light scaffold, and on the scaffold a maiden sitting at her
needle-work.
Instead of boldly entering the village, as he had intended, the youth
walked on a little way, then turned and again passed under the tree. He
did this several times, and each time he looked up, for the girl was the
prettiest that he had ever seen.
He did not show himself to the people, but for several days he lingered
on the borders of the wood, and at last he ventured to speak with the
maiden and to ask her to be his wife. She did not seem to be at all
unwilling; however, she said to him:
"You must be very careful, for my grandmother does not wish me to
marry. She is a very wicked old woman, and has thus far succeeded in
killing every one of my suitors."
"In that case, we must run away," the young man replied. "To-night, when
your grandmother is asleep, pull up some of the tent-pins and come out.
I shall be waiting for you!"
The girl did as he had said, and that same night they fled together and
by morning were far from the village.
However, the maiden kept looking over her shoulder as if fearing
pursuit, and at last her lover said to her:
"Why do you continue to look behind you? They will not have missed you
until daylight, and it is quite certain now that no one can overtake
us!"
"Ah," she replied, "my grandmother has powerful magic! She can cover a
whole day's journey at one step, and I am convinced that she is upon
our trail."
"In that case, you shall see that I too know something of magic,"
returned the young man. Forthwith he threw down one of his mittens, and
lo! their trail was changed to the trail of a Buffalo. He threw down the
other mitten, and it became the carcass of a Buffalo lying at the end of
the trail.
"She will follow thus far and no farther," he declared; but the maiden
shook her head, and ceased not from time to time to glance over her
shoulder as they hastened onward.
In truth it was not long till she perceived the old woman in the
distance, coming on with great strides and shaking her cane and her gray
head at the runaways.
"Now it is my turn!" the girl exclaimed, and threw down her comb, which
became a thick forest behind the fleeing ones, so that the angry old
woman was held back by the dense underbrush.
When she had come out of the forest at last and was again gaining upon
them, the girl threw her awl over her shoulder and it became a chain of
mountains with high peaks and sharp precipices, so that the grandmother
was kept back longer than before. Nevertheless, her magic was strong,
and she still struggled on after the lovers.
In the meantime, they had come to the bank of a river both wide and
deep, and here they stood for a while doubting how they should cross,
for there was neither boat nor ford. However, there were two Cranes near
by, and to these the young man addressed himself.
"My friends," said he, "I beg of you to stand on the opposite banks of
this river and stretch your necks across, so that we may cross in
safety! Only do this, and I will give to each of you a fine ornament for
your breast, and long fringes on your leggings, so that you will
hereafter be called the handsomest of birds!"
[Illustration]
The Cranes were willing to oblige, and they stood thus with their beaks
touching over the stream, so that the lovers crossed on their long necks
in safety.
"Now," exclaimed the young man, "I must ask of you one more favor! If an
old woman should come down to the river and seek your help, place your
heads together once more as if to allow her to cross, but when she is
half way over you must draw back and let her fall in mid-stream. Do
this, and I promise you that you shall never be in want!"
In a little while the old woman came down to the river, quite out of
breath, and more angry than before. As soon as she noticed the two
Cranes, she began to scold and order them about.
"Come here, you long-necks, you ungainly creatures, come and help me
over this river!" she cried.
The two Cranes again stood beak to beak, but when the wicked grandmother
had crossed half way they pulled in their necks and into the water she
went, screaming out threats and abuse as she whirled through the air.
The current swept her quickly away and she was drowned, for there is no
magic so strong that it will prevail against true love.
TWENTY-THIRD EVENING
THE GIRL WHO MARRIED THE STAR
TWENTY-THIRD EVENING
"Ah, here is our little Humming-bird, always the first to raise the
door-flap!" is the old teacher's pleasant greeting.
"That is because I do not want to lose one word of your good stories,
Grandfather," murmurs the little maiden, with her pretty, upward glance
and bashful smile.
"I have one for you to-night that ought to please you," he answers
thoughtfully. "You know the shining Star people in the heavens above
us--you have gazed upon them and doubtless dreamed that you were among
them. We believe them to be a higher race than ours. Listen, then, to my
story."
THE GIRL WHO MARRIED THE STAR
There were once two sisters who lived alone in an uninhabited place.
This was a long time ago, when the tribes upon earth were few, and the
animal people were friendly to man. The name of one of the girls was
Earth, and the other was called Water.
All their food was brought to them by their animal friends. The Bears
supplied them with nuts, berries and wild turnips, and the Bees brought
combs dripping with honey. They ate no flesh, for that would be to take
life. They dwelt in a lodge made of birch-bark, and their beds were mats
woven of rushes.
One clear, summer night the girls lay awake upon their beds, looking up
through the smoke-hole of their wigwam and telling one another all their
thoughts.
"Sister," said the Earth, "I have seen a handsome young man in my
dreams, and it seemed to me that he came from up yonder!"
"I too have seen a man in my dreams," replied her sister, "and he was a
great brave."
"Do you not think these bright stars above us are the sky men of whom we
have dreamed?" suggested the Earth.
"If that is true, sister, and it may be true," said the Water, "I choose
that brightest Star for my husband!"
"And I," declared her sister, "choose for my husband that little
twinkling Star!"
By and by the sisters slept; and when they awoke, they found themselves
in the sky! The husband of the elder sister who had chosen the bright
star was an old warrior with a shining name, but the husband of the
younger girl was a fine-looking young man, who had as yet no great
reputation.
The Star men were kind to their wives, who lived very happily in their
new home. One day they went out to dig wild turnips, and the old warrior
said to his wife:
"When you are digging, you must not hit the ground too hard!"
The younger man also warned his wife, saying:
"Do not hit the ground too hard!"
However, the Earth forgot, and in her haste she struck the ground so
hard with the sharp-pointed stick with which she dug turnips, that the
floor of the sky was broken and she fell through.
Two very old people found the poor girl lying in the meadow.
They kindly made for her a little wigwam of pine boughs, and brought
ferns for her bed. The old woman nursed her as well as she could, but
she did nothing but wail and cry.
"Let me go to him!" she begged. "I cannot live without my husband!"
Night came, and the stars appeared in the sky as usual. Only the little
twinkling Star did not appear, for he was now a widower and had painted
his face quite black.
The poor wife waited for him a long time, but he did not come, because
he could not. At last she slept, and dreamed she saw a tiny red Star in
the sky that had not been there before.
"Ah!" said she, "that is Red Star, my son!"
In the morning she found at her side a pretty little boy, a Star Boy,
who afterward grew to be a handsome young man and had many adventures.
His guides by night through the pathless woods were the Star children of
his mother's sister, his cousins in the sky.
TWENTY-FOURTH EVENING
NORTH WIND AND STAR BOY
TWENTY-FOURTH EVENING
"Hun, hun, hay! Old man Wazeya, the North Wind, is again on the
war-path! You are brave children to come out to-night! See, he shakes
his downy feather robe, and the little snow-flakes fly fast and faster!
He gives his war-whoop, and cowards seek the safe shelter of their own
wigwams. You are no cowards, I am sure of that, so I shall tell you of
the battle between Wazeya and one of our great heroes, the son of a
mortal maiden and a Star."
NORTH WIND AND STAR BOY
In the very old days at the beginning of things, Star Boy went about the
world as a champion, defending all feeble folk against the attacks of
their enemies.
The champion was so strong that he could not bend his bow of wood
without breaking it, therefore he armed himself with a bone bow, a bone
knife and a stone war-club.
One day, he came to the village of the Frogs, who poured out of their
lodges to meet him and set before him food, but no water. "He who goes
to the water," said they, "never returns. A great warrior lies there who
has swallowed many of us alive, and now we are perishing of thirst!"
Star Boy himself was so thirsty that after he had eaten, he went down to
the water, and was instantly swallowed by Tamahay, the Pickerel. But
with his bone knife he slashed the Pickerel in the gills and escaped;
after which he warned the big fish, saying: "Be careful how you
wantonly destroy this people, for some day they will be used to destroy
you!"
[Illustration: STAR BOY ATTACKED BY HINHAN, THE OWL.
_Page 215_]
He then went on his way, as far as another village of Little People, who
complained that they had no fire-wood.
"We dare not go to the wood any more," they said, "for there a fierce
warrior lives who swoops down from above and devours us!"
Star Boy at once went to the wood, where he was attacked by Hinhan, the
Owl. Him he easily conquered with his stone war-club. "Because of your
cruelty," he said to the Owl, "the sun shall blind you hereafter, so
that you can hunt only in the dark, when the Mouse people are advised to
take to their holes and hiding-places."
Now Star Boy travelled northward, until he had reached the very
northernmost country, and in that far land he found a people in great
distress. That was because they feared Wazeya, the North Wind, who drove
away the buffalo herds so that they had no meat. "And when he points his
finger at one of us," said they, "that man dies!"
"Come, let us hunt the buffalo!" said Star Boy to them; and although
they were starving, they were afraid and unwilling to go. However, he
made some of the men go out with him, and upon the open plain they met
with North Wind, who at once challenged the champion to do battle. The
two rushed upon one another with great fury, and in the first onset Star
Boy broke the bow of North Wind; but in the second, Star Boy was
overthrown and lay as one dead.
However, after a time he got up again, and they met for the third bout,
when lo! neither could prevail against the other, so that in the midst
of the fight they were obliged to sit upon a snowbank to rest. Star Boy
sat upon his calf-skin and fanned himself with an eagle-wing, and
immediately the snow began to melt and the North Wind was forced to
retreat. Before he went away, he made a treaty of peace with Star Boy,
promising to come to earth for half the year only, and to give timely
warning of his approach, so that the people might prepare for his coming
and lay up food against the day of scarcity. By this means the winter
and summer were established among us.
TWENTY-FIFTH EVENING
THE TEN VIRGINS
TWENTY-FIFTH EVENING
The strong sun of March still hovers over the deep blue lake, and last
night's snow flurry has quite vanished from the pleasant, brown face of
our Grandmother Earth, when the children arrive at Smoky Day's wide-open
doorway. There is a tang in the air and a stir in the blood to-night
that moves the old man to tell a tale of youth and adventure. And this
is the tale:
THE TEN VIRGINS
There were once two brothers who loved one maiden, and it appeared that
the younger brother was the favorite. One day, the jealous elder invited
his brother to go hunting with him upon an island in the great lake, a
day's journey in canoes from their village.
No sooner had they touched shore than the elder said:
"Do you go to the other end of the island, and I will drive the Deer
toward you!"
The other obeyed; but although he waited a long time on the further
side, no Deer appeared, nor did he see anything of his brother. At last
he returned through the woods to the spot where they had landed; and
behold! the canoe with his brother was almost out of sight on the blue
waters of the lake.
The young man, thus abandoned, wandered about the island for many days,
living upon the game which he found there in abundance. He had grown
very lonely and tired of his solitary life, when one day a strange old
man with long, white hair appeared on the shore.
"My son," said he, "you look unhappy! Tell me if there is anything you
wish for."
"I want nothing except to cross the water to the mainland," replied the
young man, "but I have no boat nor the means of making one."
"Get upon my back, and I will take you over in safety," returned the
patriarch. Accordingly he took him upon his back and swam across the
lake with his burden.
Now the young man was grateful to his rescuer and he no longer cared to
return to his own people and to the brother who had betrayed him,
therefore he went with the old man to his wigwam to hunt for him.
One day, when he was out hunting as usual, he thought he heard the
far-off, musical sound of girls' laughter from the depths of the forest.
He turned in the direction of the sound and soon came upon a broad
trail, which he followed until he was overtaken by nine young men, all
running eagerly along the same trail.
They at once made him join their company, saying that they had needed
just one more to complete their number. The ten hastened on, and
presently they overtook ten beautiful young damsels. Night fell, and
they all went into camp together on the shore of the great lake.
The girls were very friendly and chatted pleasantly with the young men
during the evening, until each party retired to sleep under a hurriedly
made arbor of green boughs.
Very early in the morning the youths awoke; but lo! their companions had
vanished, and they could see only the flash of a distant paddle where
lake met sky at the far-off horizon line.
[Illustration: SHE TOOK UP HANDSFUL OF ASHES TO THROW INTO THEIR FACES.
_Page 227_]
There was no boat, and they were about to go back in despair, when the
young man who had last joined the party spied a little mussel shell at
the edge of the water, and invited them to step in. At first they were
doubtful and hung back; but in the end one ventured and stepped into the
shell, which bore up his weight. Then another and another followed,
until the ten men stood upon the shell, which had become a fine large
canoe, and carried them all in safety to the opposite shore.
There they beheld the great white wigwam in which dwelt the ten virgins
with their grandmother, who was a wicked old witch.
As soon as she saw the young men she took up handfuls of ashes to throw
into their faces, and one after another fell senseless at her feet.
Last of all came the fortunate younger brother. He had borrowed the
weapons of the old man with whom he lived, and it chanced that this man
was a greater wonder-worker even than the witch. Therefore he had merely
turned toward her his magic shield to keep off the shower of ashes, when
the old woman lost all her power to hurt, and at once each lusty young
man sprang quickly up to claim his bride.
TWENTY-SIXTH EVENING
THE MAGIC ARROWS
TWENTY-SIXTH EVENING
The wise and old heads among the Indians love children's company, and
none is more sorry than Smoky Day when the village breaks up for the
spring hunt, and story-telling is over for the season.
"I hope," he says kindly, "that you have listened so well to these tales
of our people, and repeated them so often that you will never forget
them!"
"We have, grandfather, we have!" they reply in chorus.
"We must not only remember and repeat," he continues, "but we must
consider and follow their teachings, for it is so that these legends
that have come down to us from the old time are kept alive by each new
generation. There is much to learn from the story of one who was so
modest that he took the form of a ragged and homeless little boy, and
did his good deeds in secret."
THE MAGIC ARROWS
There was once a young man who wanted to go on a journey. His mother
provided him with sacks of dried meat and pairs of moccasins, but his
father said to him:
"Here, my son, are four magic arrows. When you are in need, shoot one of
them!"
The young man went forth alone, and hunted in the forest for many days.
Usually he was successful, but a day came when he was hungry and could
not find meat. Then he sent forth one of the magic arrows, and at the
end of the day there lay a fat Bear with the arrow in his side. The
hunter cut out the tongue for his meal, and of the body of the Bear he
made a thank-offering to the Great Mystery.
[Illustration]
Again he was in need, and again in the morning he shot a magic arrow,
and at nightfall beside his camp-fire he found an Elk lying with the
arrow in his heart. Once more he ate the tongue and offered up the body
as a sacrifice. The third time he killed a Moose with his arrow, and the
fourth time a Buffalo.
After the fourth arrow had been spent, the young man came one day out of
the forest, and before him there lay a great circular village of skin
lodges. At one side, and some little way from the rest of the people, he
noticed a small and poor tent where an old couple lived all alone. At
the edge of the wood he took off his clothes and hid them in a hollow
tree. Then, touching the top of his head with his staff, he turned
himself into a little ragged boy and went toward the poor tent.
The old woman saw him coming, and said to her old man: "Old man, let us
keep this little boy for our own! He seems to be a fine, bright-eyed
little fellow, and we are all alone."
"What are you thinking of, old woman?" grumbled the old man. "We can
hardly keep ourselves, and yet you talk of taking in a ragged little
scamp from nobody knows where!"
In the meantime the boy had come quite near, and the old wife beckoned
to him to enter the lodge.
"Sit down, my grandson, sit down!" she said, kindly; and, in spite of
the old man's black looks, she handed him a small dish of parched corn,
which was all the food they had.
The boy ate and stayed on. By and by he said to the old woman:
"Grandmother, I should like to have grandfather make me some arrows!"
"You hear, my old man?" said she. "It will be very well for you to make
some little arrows for the boy."
"And why should I make arrows for a strange little ragged boy?" grumbled
the old man.
However, he made two or three, and the boy went hunting. In a short
time he returned with several small birds. The old woman took them and
pulled off the feathers, thanking him and praising him as she did so.
She quickly made the little birds into soup, of which the old man ate
gladly, and with the soft feathers she stuffed a small pillow.
"You have done well, my grandson!" he said; for they were really very
poor.
Not long after, the boy said to his adopted grandmother: "Grandmother,
when you see me at the edge of the wood yonder, you must call out: 'A
Bear! there goes a Bear!'"
This she did, and the boy again sent forth one of the magic arrows,
which he had taken from the body of his game and kept by him. No sooner
had he shot, than he saw the same Bear that he had offered up, lying
before him with the arrow in his side!
Now there was great rejoicing in the lodge of the poor old couple. While
they were out skinning the Bear and cutting the meat in thin strips to
dry, the boy sat alone in the lodge. In the pot on the fire was the
Bear's tongue, which he wanted for himself.
All at once a young girl stood in the doorway. She drew her robe
modestly before her face as she said in a low voice:
"I come to borrow the mortar of your grandmother!"
The boy gave her the mortar, and also a piece of the tongue which he had
cooked, and she went away.
When all of the Bear meat was gone, the boy sent forth a second arrow
and killed an Elk, and with the third and fourth he shot the Moose and
the Buffalo as before, each time recovering his arrow.
[Illustration]
Soon after, he heard that the people of the large village were in
trouble. A great Red Eagle, it was said, flew over the village every
day at dawn, and the people believed that it was a bird of evil omen,
for they no longer had any success in hunting. None of their braves had
been able to shoot the Eagle, and the chief had offered his only
daughter in marriage to the man who should kill it.
When the boy heard this, he went out early the next morning and lay in
wait for the Red Eagle. At the touch of his magic arrow, it fell at his
feet, and the boy pulled out his arrow and went home without speaking to
any one.
But the thankful people followed him to the poor little lodge, and when
they had found him, they brought the chief's beautiful daughter to be
his wife. Lo, she was the girl who had come to borrow his grandmother's
mortar!
Then he went back to the hollow tree where his clothes were hidden, and
came back a handsome young man, richly dressed for his wedding.
TWENTY-SEVENTH EVENING
THE GHOST WIFE
TWENTY-SEVENTH EVENING
On this last evening, the children are told to be especially quiet, and
to listen reverently and earnestly, "for these are the greater things of
which I am about to tell you," says their old teacher.
"You have heard that the Great Mystery is everywhere. He is in the earth
and the water, heat and cold, rocks and trees, sun and sky; and He is
also in us. When the spirit departs, that too is a mystery, and
therefore we do not speak aloud the name of the dead. There are wonders
all about us, and within, but if we are quiet and obedient to the voice
of the spirit, sometime we may understand these mysteries!"
It is thus the old sage concludes his lessons, and over all the circle
there is a hush of loving reverence.
THE GHOST WIFE
There was once a young man who loved to be alone, and who often stayed
away from the camp for days at a time, when it was said that Wolves,
Bears and other wild creatures joined him in his rovings.
He was once seen with several Deer about him, petting and handling them;
but when the Deer discovered the presence of a stranger, they snorted
with fear and quickly vanished. It was supposed that he had learned
their language. All the birds answered his call, and even those
fairy-like creatures of the air, the butterflies, would come to him
freely and alight upon his body.
[Illustration: HE WAS ONCE SEEN WITH SEVERAL DEER ABOUT HIM, PETTING AND
HANDLING THEM.
_Page 247_]