BIRD LEGEND AND LIFE 



On arriving, he spread for the youth the mat of reeds 

 the Indian mother had proudly woven for him, her first- 

 born, and who now laid himself face downward upon it, be- 

 side the great bow and arrows and tomahawk of his father. 



With a heavy heart he heard the sound of the father's 

 footsteps growing fainter and fainter as he departed; then 

 he was alone with the silence. 



All through the long day and the long night he lay there 

 alone. Morning, bringing light and gladness to others, 

 brought no joy to the sad youth in the forest. 



When the father came to ask if any dreams had come 

 to him, the boy replied: "O my father, such dreams as you 

 wish will never come to me. Let me give up this cruel fast- 

 ing and return with you to our wigwam." But the father, 

 whose Indian pride prevented his yielding to the beseechings 

 of his child, would talk only of the glad time when the fast 

 would be ended, and told of the days of his own fasting with 

 their glorious ending. 



Each day with cheering words the chief returned, only to 

 find the youth growing weaker. On the tenth morning he 

 did not rise to greet the father as he had done before. His 

 weakened limbs would no longer support him. 



"Spare me, O my father, and take me home," he whis- 

 pered; "no dreams will come. I am so weak that surely 

 death will take me before the great Manitou comes. Give 

 me food that I may break this dreadful fast." 



But the imyielding chief replied: "If you wait with 

 brave and patient heart, my son, soon you shall be a great 

 hunter, never knowing lack of food; you shall be a great 

 warrior, wise as the fox and strong as the bear; and many 

 scalps you shall wear at your belt. Better that you should 



148 



