THE frowning walls of Kitchingeetah, the great moun- 

 tain, towered sheer into the black skies from the starlit 

 surface of the lake. The first red man knelt on the 

 strand and his bow and arrow lay before him, while the feath- 

 ers and pinions of a fenny goose hung over his shoulders. He 

 was cold and hungry and he prayed to the red gods who 

 loomed huge and terrible in vast, shadowy shapes that rose 

 from the top of the mountain far up to the uttermost stars. 

 And the red gods laughed him to scorn and bade him freeze 

 and starve. 



And then came the great spirit and whispered into his soul, 

 "Take thy bow and string it loosely and with it twirl thee an 

 arrow upon yonder billet of dry cedar, and I will send thee 

 the red flower." 



And the first red man did as the great spirit whispered 

 unto him, pressing down hard upon the nock of the arrow, 

 with the hollow bill of the goose held in his hand and twirl- 

 ing the arrow shaft with the string of the bow. And with a 

 sharp arrowhead he made a notch in the side of the cedar 

 stick and close beside it the whirling shaft drilled a hollow. 

 A fine black dust of cedar collected in the notch and pres- 

 ently a tiny smoke arose, and the first red man bowed his 

 head, for he knew that the great spirit was near and would 

 give him the red flower. And the great spirit came, bearing 

 the red flower in his hands, and the first red man bowed his 

 head to the ground and hid his face in his arm, for he dared 

 not look upon the great spirit. And when he had passed, lo! 

 a tiny coal lay in the cedar dust and the first red man breathed 

 on it, ever so gently. And when it was grown strong, he, 

 caught it in a bunch of soft cedar bark and soon a tongue of 

 living flame shot forth and ate of the bark. And the first red 

 man breathed heavily, for the presence of the great spirit lay 

 heavy on his soil, and he was sore afraid and knew not what 

 to do. 



15 



