LIFE AND LOVE RETURN 271 



"Listen to her . . . why, my son, it has always been 

 the female that did the courting ... all down through 

 the Great, Great Long Ago, it has ever been thus . . . and 

 so it is to-day. Look at the cow of the moose, the doe of the 

 deer, the she of the lynx, the female of the wolf, the she of the 

 bear, the goose, the duck, the hen, and the female of the 

 rabbit. What do they do when they want a mate? . . . 

 They bellow and run, they meow and bow, they howl and 

 prance, they twitter and dance . . . just as women have 

 always done. And when the male comes, what does the female 

 do? She pretends indifference, she feigns innocence, she runs 

 away, and stops to listen, afraid lest she has run too far; and then, 

 if he does not follow, she comes deceitfully back again and pre- 

 tends not even to see him. Remember, my son, that though 

 the female always runs away, she never runs so fast that she 

 couldn't run faster; and it makes no difference whether the 

 female has wings or fins, flippers or feet, it is all the same . . . 

 the female always does the courting." 



No doubt, had they ever met, Oo-koo-hoo and George Ber- 

 nard Shaw would have become fast friends; for George, too, 

 insists on the very same thing. But does not the average man, 

 from his great store of conceit, draw the flattering inference 

 that it is he and he alone who does the courting, and that his 

 success is entirely due to his wonderful display of physical and 

 mental charm; while the average woman looks in her mirror and 

 laughs in her sleeve — less gown. 



Though for some time silence filled the tepee and the dogs 

 were asleep beside the door, the pipes still glowed ; and Oo-koo- 

 hoo, stirring the fire, mused aloud: 



"But, perhaps, my son, you wonder why the hen partridges 

 dance that way and why the cock drums his accompaniment?" 



" It does seem strange," I replied. 



"But not, my son, if you know their history. It is an old, 

 old story, and it began away back in the Great, Great, Long 



