THE OEIGIN OF THE NAEWHAL 



him meat, for she loved her brother dearly and 

 used to weep because she knew he was hungry. 



One day a loon flew over the hut, and, seeing 

 the poor blind boy at the door, resolved to restore 

 his eyesight. The bird perched on the roof and 

 kept calling, " Quee moo! Quee moo! " which 

 sounded to the lad like " Come here ! Come 

 here!" 



He went out and followed the bird to the 

 water. There the loon took the boy on its back 

 and dived with him to the bottom. The loon is a 

 great diver and can stay for a long time under 

 water, but it knew the boy could not. So it came 

 to the surface soon and asked, " Can you see any- 

 thing? " 



" No, I cannot see anything as yet," answered 

 the boy. 



They dove again and remained a longer time. 

 Again when they came up the loon asked, " Can 

 you see now? " 



" I can see a dim shimmer," replied the boy. 



" Take a long, long breath and hold it while we 

 go down," said the loon. " When you can hold 

 it no more, let it come out very gradually. As 

 soon as the bubbles of air begin to rise I will know 

 that you must come to the surface and will bring 

 you." 



45 



