56 TRADITIONS OF THE CADDO. 
30. THE POWER OF THE CYCLONE.* 
A boy sat down on the banks of the river to rest after his morning 
bath, and as he sat there watching the sun come up and listening to 
the water and trees, a voice from some place spoke in his ear and said : 
‘Boy, I have been watching you at your bath every morning. I 
know that your grandmother has sent you here every day in winter 
and in summer to plunge into the water, no matter how cold, that 
you might gain strength and become a strong man, hardened to 
endure. I have come to give you that strength that you desire, and 
even more.”’ 
The boy looked about him through the trees and in the water, but 
for a long time he saw nothing. After he had gazed into the water 
for a long time he saw slowly arising to the surface a man. ‘The boy 
was not frightened, but sat still on the bank and waited. The man 
came close and spoke to him, saying: ‘‘ Dive into the water four times, 
and as you dive always face the west.’’ After the boy had dived four 
times and again sat on the bank, the unknown person said: ‘‘I am 
the power of the Cyclone. Once I was so strong and powerful that I 
held all the Winds in my control, and all people feared me, but now I 
am growing old and my strength is going from me. For some time 
I have been looking over the world to find some one to take my place 
and to whom I could intrust my powers. As I was looking and almost 
despairing of finding a worthy young man, I found you. From that 
time I have been watching you, and now at last I am come to give my 
power to you. Swing your arms about.’’ ‘The young man began to 
swing his arms, and soon a big, black cloud rolled upinthe north. It 
passed to the west, and then, as the boy threw his arms about faster, 
the wind broke from the cloud and passed through the forest, tearing 
up trees by the roots and tossing the waters in fury as it went. At 
last the man cried in a loud voice that was barely heard above the roar 
of the winds, ‘‘ Stand still!’’ 
The boy dropped his arms at his sides and stood breathless and pant- 
ing with the exertion. The mansaid: ‘‘ You have received my power. 
Take care that you never abuse it, and send the cyclone only in the 
spring, when it is necessary. I give you the name ‘ Path-of-the- 
Cyclone’ to be yours, and people shall know you by that name.’’ 
Then the man disappeared. Years after the people came to know the 
power the boy possessed when they saw him carried through the air to 
the sky on the breast of the cyclone. 
*Told by Wing. 
