image XIX image

The Labors of the Holy One

Hands on knees, we leaned and waited for the tale to continue. Having taken the pipe, No Water drew a deep draught with hollowing cheeks.

“I am very old and wise,” he began, speaking out of a slowly thinning fog, “and what I tell, my grandmother told it to me when I was very little like you. She heard it from her grandmother, and she from hers, and she from hers. I must be very careful to tell it right, so that you can tell it when you too are old and wise.

“Meadowlark and his wife had enough papa for many snows. When their hungry relatives came to visit, I think there was more than they could eat too.

“Falling Star was bigger and stronger by now than any man ever was, and he was very handsome. I think he looked like the star-chief who was his father, and there was a light that came out of him all over.

“So one day he said to Meadowlark and his wife, ‘Grandfather, Grandmother, you have plenty to eat now, and I must go far away, for there is much that I came to do.’ When Meadowlark and his wife heard Falling Star say that, it was like waking in the night, and it is still and many stars are looking.

“And Meadowlark said, ‘Dho, Grandson, you are going on a long journey. On that journey you will meet certain people who are sad. Have pity on those people.’ Mother Meadowlark did not say anthing; she just sang the song she knew, the one like little waters falling; for she was very proud of the baby, and he so big and strong now.

“Then Falling Star began walking, and all at once he was far away already. Afterwhile, as he walked, he was coming to the top of a hill. There he saw somebody peeking at him.” No Water paused to peek, dutifully assisted by the others. “Somebody was peeking yonder, so Falling Star thought he would go and see who was peeking. It was an old man, and he said, ‘Hun-hi, Grandson! Where are you going?’ And Falling Star said, ‘I am going on a journey, Grandfather.’ And the old man said, ‘On this journey, there will be difficulties, and you must remember me, always remember me when you meet difficulties. So I give you this.’ It was an eagle feather, and that meant the Great Mysterious One. Also it meant that our thoughts should rise high as eagles. Falling Star thanked the old man, and said ‘How.’ Then he started walking with the feather; and when he looked back, the old man was an eagle and flew away.

“While Falling Star was walking, he came to a little tepee made of grass. In this tepee lived an old, old woman, and when she saw Falling Star coming, she said, ‘Hun-hi! My grandson is coming! Falling Star is coming. Grandson, you are on a long journey, and there will be many difficulties, so I give you this’ It was a cap with a hawk’s feather in it. ‘And I give you this.’ It was a long knife. So Falling Star thanked the old woman and started walking again. When he looked back he could see it was a hawk standing back there in front of the little grass tepee.

“We must remember these gifts that Falling Star had, for we shall need them.” No Water raised his left hand, counting the gifts on his fingers. “An eagle plume, a cap with a hawk’s feather, a big knife. Three! We must be careful not to forget these gifts.

“Falling Star had been walking very far by now, and he was going towards where there is always snow. So it was getting very cold. And when he came to a high ridge he could see a big village in a white valley without grass, and winds were mourning there, and from the tepee tops no smoke came out. Only one tepee gave smoke in all that village. It was much bigger than the others, and it stood to one side all alone. Then Falling Star saw a little tepee made of old hides all pieced together, and from the top there came no smoke; and it was not to the big tepee that he went. When he came to the little patched tepee, the wind was mourning around it and the snow was trying to get in through the patches.

“So he opened the flap, and there inside he saw an old, old man and an old, old woman, and they were huddled together under a patched skin. Then the old man looked up and light came on his face from what he saw. And he said, ‘Hun-hi! Our grandson has come at last! Falling Star has come to see us!’ Then the old woman looked, and on her face also there came a light from what she saw. And the old man said, ‘Grandson, we are having a hard winter. You see this village here. The people are starving, and we are starving too. You saw a big tepee over yonder, and in that tepee lives a man of evil power. All good things are in that tepee, wasna and papa in plenty, and a warm fire; but this man has the people in his hands and will not let them eat. We are all afraid of him and no one is strong enough to face him, for he is a giant and his name is Wazya [source of snow]. When the people go out to hunt, this man follows them and howls and roars and drives the game away.’ ”

“Sheetsha! Sheetsha!” muttered Eagle Voice and Moves Walking, hunched against the bitter cold of the tale.

“Dho,” No Water agreed. “It was bad. And when Falling Star had heard, there came a little boy into the tepee, and he was thin and shivering. And the old man said to Falling Star, ‘This is our little grandson, and he too is starving.’ And Falling Star said, ‘How! I think your grandson and I will go visiting where there is plenty of wasna and papa and a warm fire.’

“So all at once he changed himself into a little boy just like the old man’s grandson, and he was thin and shivering too. And he said ‘Now we will visit Wazya.’ So the two little boys went out into the white valley with no grass, and the wind mourning there. And the other little boy was not afraid, because Falling Star was with him. Then they came to the big tepee smoking all alone outside the village where no smoke at all arose. And all over the outside of the big tepee more papa was hanging than a village could eat in a hard winter. Also wasna was stacked all around the tepee. And when Falling Star lifted the flap and looked in, there was a big giant, with long white hair hanging down around his face. You have seen a rocky hillside that looks away from the sun in the Moon of Popping Trees [December]. That is how his face looked. He was sitting by a warm fire, and on the other side there was a giant woman with long white hair hanging around her face, and that was like the same hillside. And back of these, all around the tepee, were sitting many children, and all of them had long white hair, and they were fat.

“When the two thin little boys peeked in there, the giant Wazya looked hard at them, and said ‘Hin!’, which meant they were not welcome. ‘Why do you come peeking here?’ His voice was so big that it made the tepee shake, and the smoke flap quivered. Falling Star made his voice small and said, ‘How, kola; we have come to visit.’ And Wazya did not say ‘how’; he said ‘hin,’ just like that. And the fat children with white hair stuck their tongues out at the two thin little boys, and they made a sound like snow hissing through dead grass.

“By now Falling Star and the other thin little boy were looking around the big tepee at all the good things to eat. Also, they were looking at the soft warm skins for the giants and their children to sleep in. Then Falling Star saw a big bow and big arrows in a quiver, hanging on a pole. And he said to Wazya, ‘Kola, do you use these when you go hunting?’ And Wazya grunted, ‘hin.’ Then Falling Star, said, ‘It is the biggest bow I ever saw. You must be very strong to pull it. I wish I could try it.’ When Falling Star said this, and he so thin and little, you could hear laughter rumbling deep down in Wazya’s belly. When ice is getting ready to break in a river it sounds the same way.

“So Falling Star took the bow down from the pole. It was so big that his two hands could not reach halfway around it. But he remembered his eagle feather, and all at once he lifted the bow with his left hand, and with his right hand he pulled the string back behind his ear. Then the smallest of the giants’ little boys pointed to Falling Star and said, ‘I know him. He looks just like Falling Star, and he is Falling Star.’ Then he just sat and stared like the others. Then there was a big noise like the ice breaking up in a river and the flood smashing through. And there on the ground was Wazya’s bow, all in pieces.”

“Washtay! Hiyay!” Eagle Voice and Moves Walking applauded.

“Wazya did not say anything,” No Water continued. “His woman did not say anything. The fat children with white hair did not say anything. They all just sat and stared at the bow all in pieces. It is like that when the winter is old and the sun is warm, and there is no cloud, and no wind blows; but if you listen hard, you can hear little waters.” No Water, with his left hand extended and his right hand back of his ear, drew the giant bow.

“So while the giants and their children were staring, Falling Star and the other thin little boy went outside and took all the papa they could carry. And the other thin little boy said, ‘That boy who spoke to us, he is the one who sometimes sneaks over to our tepee and gives us papa to eat. He is not a bad boy.’ And Falling Star said, ‘We will remember him.’

“So the two thin little boys went back to the little patched tepee with the papa; and while the grandfather and grandmother were eating, they heard about Wazya’s bow, and were happy again. And while they were eating and hearing, there was a crier going around the village outside, and it was good news that he had for the people. He was shouting, ‘Moon Necklace,’ for that was the head chief of this village, ‘Moon Necklace, the valleys where you used to hunt, they are full of bison! Many bison they have seen in the valleys where you used to hunt! Men, get ready! Women, look to your children’s moccasins and sharpen your knives!’

“So the grandfather and grandmother and their grandson and Falling Star went outside. All the people were coming out of their tepees, singing as they came. Even the wind had stopped mourning, and the valley was no longer white. It was all in brown patches, and the tender grass was peeking through.

“So there was a big hunt. Falling Star had only one arrow, but that was all he needed; for he tied his hawk feather on the end of it, and the feather had the sacred power of the hawk, to see and swoop and kill. He would shoot a bison with this arrow, and it would go on through to another bison, and on through to another and another. I cannot say how many, because my grandmother was too old to remember that; but it went through many. Then Falling Star would find his arrow and shoot again, and again, and again. I think the women were very busy by now, cutting up the meat.

“All at once Wazya and his woman and all his children were coming running, and Wazya was roaring, ‘Leave my bison alone! Those are my bison, and you cannot have any!’ He began putting all the dead bison into a big sack he carried. Then Falling Star grew very tall, taller than any man ever was, and he was burning all over, for he was very angry. When Wazya and his woman and his children saw this, they began to run away. But Falling Star ran faster, and with one swing of his knife he cut off Wazya’s head!”

“Hoka hey!” cried Moves Walking and Eagle Voice. “Hoka hey!”

“And water came rushing out of the giant’s neck,” No Water went on. “Then with another stroke, the giant woman’s head rolled off, and gushing water came out of her neck also.”

“Hoka hey!” the two cried in unison.

“And when this was done,” No Water continued, “Falling Star chased the children and cut off their heads also, the biggest ones first and then the smaller ones. And out of all their necks came running water. So Wazya and his woman and his children were dead, all but one little boy, the smallest of them all. And when Falling Star saw this one, he said to himself, ‘This is the boy who sometimes sneaked away from home and fed the old people. I will chase him, but I will let him live.’ So he chased the smallest boy into a big crack in the ground, and you could see frost coming out of the crack where the smallest boy hid. If Falling Star had not let that one get away, maybe there would be no winter at all. That is what my grandmother thought. I do not know. But old, old men always say the winters used to be much harder than they are now. Deeper snow! Colder, much colder! Maybe that was before Wazya and his woman and children got their heads cut off. I do not know this, and I must be careful what I tell.

“So the people of this village feasted and danced and sang, every tepee-top gave smoke, and all the valley was green.

“Then the chiefs and the councilors and the akichita and the wich-asha yatapika got together, and in the center of the happy village they made a big tepee of many tepees. And into this place they brought Falling Star that each might thank him in turn for saving the people. And when they had thanked him, the oldest of the wichasha yatapika stood up on three legs, and said, ‘Failing Star, the people want you to live with them and be their great head chief forever.’ And when the people heard this, they all cried, ‘Hiyay! Hiyay!’

“Then Falling Star stood so tall that the people had to look straight up and far to see his face; and it was so bright that it blinded them. But in the darkness of their eyes there was the voice of Falling Star, and the voice said, ‘I cannot live with you always, my people, for I have much to do and a long journey to go. But in the moon when cherries blacken, look for me and I will always come again.’

“And when the voice was still and the people looked about them, Falling Star was gone and the high sun was shining on the happy village in the wide green valley.”

No Water ceased, and sat in silence, gazing as upon something far away, while Moves Walking and Eagle Voice leaned forward waiting. At length Moves Walking broke the silence with a forceful whisper. “White crow!” he prompted.

With that mildly grieved, questioning look of his, No Water turned upon Moves Walking. “Falling Star has gone on a long journey,” he said. “I was waiting to see where he went. You know this story so well, Grandfather, you tell it yourself.”

Dho,” said Moves Walking explosively, the off-eye glaring, the other revealing a suppressed amusement. “I know this story from my grandfather. Don’t bother me, and I will tell it right.”

Evidently No Water had become an eager little boy, hands on knees, leaning to hear.

“So Falling Star had to go on another long journey,” Moves Walking began, “and he was far away already. He was walking, walking—walking; and my grandfather said you could see where he walked by the flowers. And while he was walking he came to the top of a hill. An old man was standing there, and this old man said, ‘Hun-hi, Grandson, where are you going? And Falling Star said, ‘I am on a journey, Grandfather.’ And the old man said, ‘Grandson, you are going to meet some difficulties. There is a big village yonder. In that village there is no meat, and the children are crying for it. What you must do will be hard, so you must remember me and I give you this.’ It was a grasshopper. Falling Star thanked the old man and started walking again. When he looked back, a meadowlark was standing on the hilltop yonder, and that made him feel very kind.

“So Falling Star walked far, and afterwhile he came to another hilltop, and in the valley yonder was this big village the meadowlark man told about. It looked as though nobody was young down there—people sitting by their tepees with their chins on their breasts, boys walking around like old men without canes. And when you listen, you hear little children whimpering and crying, like being very hungry and no meat.

“While Falling Star was looking, he saw a little tepee made of old skins patched together; so that is where he went. And when he lifted the flap an old, old man and an old, old woman were sitting inside with their chins on their breasts. When the old man lifted his head to look, it was shaking, and he said, ‘Hun-hun-hi, here is my grandson! Sit down.’ When the old woman lifted her head to look, it was shaking too, and she said, ‘It is good that you came, my grandson, for the people are all starving. I can see that you are Falling Star.’ And the old man said, ‘It is true. We are all starving. When the hunters go out, there are bison; but there is a white crow that talks, and he tells all the bison to run away for the hunters are coming. So no bison are there when the hunters come, and we are starving.’”

Sheetsha! Sheetsha!” commented No Water and Eagle Voice, their heads shaking with feebleness.

Dho,” Moves Walking agreed. “It was bad, very bad. So Falling Star said, ‘Grandfather, I think you should call the head men of the village here, for I want to say something to them.’ The old man felt much stronger now, so he went and told the head men. And when the head men were there, they all said, ‘Hun-hun-hi! It is good! Our grandson, Falling Star, has come to visit us!’ And the head chief said, ‘We have no meat to give you, for we are all starving. There is a white crow that talks. He always flies ahead of the hunters and tells the bison to go away; and when the hunters come, no bison are there at all, and we are starving.’

“Then Falling Star said to the head men, ‘You must do what I say. Set up a tepee in the center of the hoop and make it tight without even a smoke flap; for nobody is going to live in this tepee. Make a little fire in there before you shut it tight. There are bison not far away. I will go there and change myself into a bison. When you come to hunt, there will be only one bison left, for the white crow will tell the others to run away. This one bison will be I, but do not fear to kill and butcher me, for you cannot hurt me. Do not take any meat for yourselves—only enough for the little children who are crying. Then you will see.’

“So Falling Star asked for a bison robe, and this he tied about him. Then he began rolling on the ground and bellowing. All at once he was a big bison bull, and he galloped away to where the other bison were feeding, and the white crow was hopping around among them.

“Soon the hunters were coming, and the white crow began flying around over the bison and screaming, ‘Run! Run! The hunters are coming!’ All of them ran away from there except one big bull, and he just went on feeding. So the white crow flew down onto the bull’s back and began pecking and screaming, ‘Did you not hear me, bad one? I told you to run away! The hunters are coming!’ But this big bull just made thunder in his belly and went on feeding.

“The hunters were close now, and the white crow had to fly away. But he was watching while the hunters killed and butchered the big bull. When they had butchered they took some tender meat and good warm liver for the little children who were crying, and went back to the village.

“Then the white crow came flying around and around the bull that was butchered, and he was thinking, ‘I must be careful. Maybe this is a trick.’ But the fresh meat smelled so good that he could not stay away from it. So he hopped around the butchered bison, with his head on this side, then on that side, then on this side, then on that side. [Three heads wagged, illustrating the point.] All the while he was hopping a little closer. When he could not wait any longer he pecked at one of the eyes. But the way the other eye looked at him, he was frightened, and he said, ‘This looks like Falling Star’s eye.’ So he flew away and sat on top of a plum thicket to watch.

“While he was watching, the black crows and the magpies and two hawks smelled the fresh meat and came swooping down on it to feast. This made the white crow hungrier than before, and very angry too. So he came flapping and screaming, ‘Get away from my meat! This is my meat, and I will eat it myself!’ But nobody listened. So he hopped right inside the butchered bison and began poking around for some good warm liver. Peck-peck. Peck-peck-peck. Peck-peck-peck-peck. The meat was good and he was greedy, so he forgot to be afraid.

“That is just what Falling Star was waiting for, and all at once he was not a butchered four-legged any more; for he changed himself into a two-legged and caught white crow by the legs!”

Having silenced the exclamations of triumph with a lifted forefinger, Moves Walking continued: “Don’t bother me. I must tell this right. Squawk! Squ-awk! Squ-awk-k-k!’ the white crow screamed; ‘Let me go! Let me go! I will give you my power if you will let me go!’ But Falling Star said, ‘You have been bad to the people long enough. I will not let you go.’ So he went back to the village; and when the people saw him coming with the white crow that was flapping and screaming, they all cried, ‘Hiyay! Hiyay,’ with one big voice.

“Then Falling Star went to the tepee that the head men had made tight with a little fire inside, and he pushed the white crow in under the bottom of it. All at once it is like Thunder Beings fighting inside that tepee! People all watch and listen! Hardly breathe! Squawk! Squawk! Flap! Flap! Big noise in there! Looks like that tepee is going to fall down! People come running to hold it up. Everybody holding that tepee up. Then all at once, the tepee-top breaks open, and out flies the white crow with the smoke!”

Moves Walking clapped his hands violently, then paused, open-mouthed, to follow the escaping culprit with one astonished, and one angrily glaring eye.

Sheetsha! Sheetsha!” muttered the others, deploring the unfortunate situation. His excitement having subsided, Moves Walking continued.

“No, Grandsons,” he said with a reassuring smile, “it was not bad. It was good, very good. The white crow got away, but he was black, black from the smoke, black all over just like all the other crow people. No power any more. Tries to say something to the bison. Squawk, squawk— that is all he can say. Bison let him squawk, go right on feeding. Hunters come. Plenty bison. Children stop crying. Nobody hungry any more.”

Washtay! Washtay!” Eagle Voice and No Water applauded the happy outcome.

“So there was a big feast in that village,” Moves Walking continued. “Then Falling Star said to the old, old man and the old, old woman in their fine new tepee, ‘Grandfather, Grandmother, there is another village, and they need me over there. I must go on a long journey.’ So he went.”

After a waiting silence, Moves Walking turned to Eagle Voice. “Grandfather,” he said, “you started this. You finish it.”

“Chief’s arm!” urged No Water.

Dho,” Eagle Voice began. “The chief’s right arm. It is stolen and somebody must get it back. So Falling Star was walking again. When he had walked far, he came to the top of a hill, and there was an old man. And this old man said, ‘Hun-hi, Grandson, where are you going?’ And Falling Star said, ‘I am on a journey.’ And the old man said, ‘You will come to a big village, and there will be great difficulties. I do not give you anything; but you must remember the gifts you have received already, for you shall need them. This is going to be very difficult.’ Then Falling Star said, ‘I will remember all my gifts, Grandfather,’ and he went on walking.

“Afterwhile there was a high ridge, and in the valley below was this big village. While he was looking, there was a little patched tepee on one side, and he thought, ‘That is where I will go.’ So he turned himself into a little boy like you, Grandsons—six, seven winters maybe—and went to the little patched tepee. When he lifted the flap and said, ‘How,’ there was an old, old woman sitting in there all alone, with thin white hair and the point of her chin close to the point of her nose. And she said, ‘Grandson, my Grandson, I am so glad you have come! Your grandfather did not come back from the war-path. I am always waiting, but he does not come, and I am all alone here.’ And Falling Star said, ‘I will stay with you and bring you tender meat, Grandmother.’

“So that is what he did. He would go hunting, and when he was out there he would turn into a very tall young man. Every time he would come back with plenty of tender meat for his grandmother. But when he came back, he would be a little boy again. People did not know who he was, so they called him Lives-with-his-Grandma; and that was his name.

“Then one day his grandmother said, ‘Something very bad has happened, Grandson. The Thunder Beings have stolen the head-chief’s right arm, and with only his left arm he has no power and cannot protect the people. He has one daughter, and all the young warriors want her for their woman. They have brought many horses, but he waves them away and says, ‘Bring me my right arm and I will give her to you.’

“Then Falling Star laughed and said, ‘Grandmother, I think I will go and peek at the head-chief’s daughter.’ So that is what he did. And when he had peeked, he said to himself, ‘I will go and find that arm and I will bring it back, for I am Falling Star, and even the Thunder Beings shall not stop me!’

“There was a long line of young warriors waiting their turn to talk to the daughter, and she sitting in front of her tepee. One by one, she waved them away and said, ‘The arm! Go find the arm!’ So the long line shortened, and Falling Star was the last one. He was a tall young man now. When he looked at the daughter, his eyes were stars in a still night. She looked back at him, and her eyes were stars too, shining in a still clear night. And while they were looking, there was a soft starlight that grew, and it covered them like a lover’s blanket, and they were alone together in there.

“Then the daughter said, ‘You are Falling Star, and I have been waiting so long. Go quickly and bring the arm, for it is so long that I have waited.’ And when Falling Star heard this, all at once he was like the sun when it is rising.

“Then he was gone from there. So Falling Star was walking again. And afterwhile there was an old woman living by a creek. Maybe it was Rapid Creek in Pa Sapa [the Black Hills]. My grandfather thought this, but I do not know. And the old woman said, ‘Grandson, I know what you are looking for. I saw the Thunder Beings with the chief’s right arm. They came roaring through here. This is going to be the most difficult thing, and you will need help. So I give you this piece of sinew. When you need to go away fast from somewhere, just put a live coal on one end of this sinew, and all at once you will not be there at all. When you come near to Where-the-Bears-Live [Bear Butte], you will see your grandfather, and he will help.’

“Falling Star thanked the old woman and went on walking. Soon he saw an old man standing by his tepee with a blanket around him. ‘Hun-hun-hi, Grandson, you are doing a very difficult thing, I have heard! Come in and eat.’ So they went inside the tepee, and it was full of eagles lying down with their wings stretched out—like a robe of eagles on the ground. And while they were eating the old man said, ‘As you go, there is a place called He-Ska [White Buttes, north of the Black Hills]. Your grandfather lives there. Be sure to see him before you get to where you are going. And take this feather with you.’

“Falling Star thanked the old man with the eagles and went on. Then he was coming to He-Ska, and on top was a tepee. And from the tepee an old man called down to him. ‘Grandson, I am your grandfather. Come up and I will help you.’ So Falling Star climbed up, and the old man said, ‘It is very difficult, what you are doing, I have heard. I am small but I can help you. Take this.’ Then Falling Star saw that the old man was a split-tail swallow, and it was one of his wing feathers that he gave. ‘Go on with this,’ the old man said. ‘You are very near now.’

“So Falling Star thanked the old man and went on into a wide flatland deep in grass. And in that flatland was a big village. I think maybe the people were dancing in that village, because Falling Star could hear drums—like thunder when it sleeps and snores under the edge of the world.

“When Falling Star was going into the village where the thunder slept, there was a thin little voice coming from a bull-berry bush. He looked, and it was a wren. And the wren said, ‘I am not much of a man myself, but I can help. Take this feather from my wing, but I want it back. The chief’s right arm is in that big tepee you see yonder. Put the feather in your hair and fly over to that woodpile by the big tepee. Then you must say, “Zuya wahi! Zuya wahi! [On the war-path I come].” They will hear and let you in. And be sure to give me back my feather.’

“Then Falling Star said, ‘You make me thankful, Holds-back-the-Buffalo [for that was his name]. I will not forget, little Grandfather.’ So he put the feather in his hair. All at once he was a wren, and he flew over to the woodpile by the big tepee.

“There was a little boy Thunder Being who came out of the big tepee and heard what the wren was saying on the woodpile. So he went back inside and said, ‘There is a wren sitting on the woodpile out there, and he says he has come on the war-path.’ Falling Star could hear Thunders laughing inside, and a big voice said, ‘A wren on the war-path! Ho ho! Bring him in! A wren on the war-path! Ho! ho!’

“So the little boy caught the wren and took him inside the big tepee that was made of cloud. There were giants sitting around a pot, and the pot was boiling. Falling Star knew they were Thunder Beings the way their bellies rumbled when they laughed, and there were blue jagged stripes all over their bodies. He could see something wrapped in hide hanging from a pole, and what do you think that was?”

Chief’s right arm!” exclaimed Moves Walking and No Water in unison.

Dho, the chief’s right arm! The wren knew it too, and he began saying, ‘Zuya wahi! Zuya wahi!’ as loud as he could. Then one of the Thunder Beings roared with laughing, seized the wren and threw him into the boiling pot.

“But the wren was Falling Star, and when he flapped his wings, the boiling soup whirled like a great storm and fell on all the Thunder Beings. They howled with pain; and the way they were feeling around for the wren while they howled, you could see they were nearly blind with the scalding soup in their eyes.

“Then Falling Star seized the arm and flew out of the tepee built of cloud and all on fire with sharp lightning. First, he flew to He Ska where his grandfather Wren lived, and he said, ‘Little Grandfather, here is your feather. You have made me thankful. I must hurry.’ Then he put the feather of the split-tail swallow in his hair. And as he turned into a swallow, all the Thunder Beings came roaring and howling and flashing with sharp fires. If you have seen how split-tail swallows fly in front of a storm, that is how Falling Star flew. Up and down, back and forth, rise and swoop, he flew and dodged so fast that the arrows of the lightning could not hit him.

“The Thunder Beings were howling and roaring close behind when he came to where his Grandfather Swallow lived; and he said, ‘Quick, Grandfather! Take your feather! You have made me thankful! I must hurry!’

“Then he put his eagle plume in his hair. You may think he changed into an eagle, but that is not what he did. He changed into an eagle feather that floated and flew on the back of the great wind ahead of the Thunder Beings. When he came to his grandfather of the eagles, he said, ‘Quick, Grandfather! Take back your plume! You have made me thankful. I must hurry!’

“Then he put a live coal on the end of the sinew. And when it sizzled and began to shrink and curl, all at once he was not there at all. He was right in front of his old grandmother’s tepee in the big village he had started from. When he looked back, he saw a big, boiling, black cloud full of Thunder Beings that were howling and roaring and shooting blue fire arrows as they came. They were coming fast, and Falling Star thought, ‘I have used the powers of the wren, the swallow, the eagle, and the sinew. What can I do now?’ He still had his grasshopper and hawk feather, but the hawk would be too slow. When he touched the ground in front of the old grandmother’s tepee, he had changed into a little boy again, the one they called Lives-with-his-Grandma.

“He was going to change into the grasshopper so that he could hide in the grass until the Thunder Beings had gone by. But he did not do this, for just then his old grandmother came running out of her tepee with a hatchet. She was very angry, and she was yelling at the Thunder Beings. ‘What are you doing to my grandson?’ Whack! ‘This is my little grandson, and don’t you dare hurt him!’ Whack! Whack! ‘You go away from here, you bad Thunder Beings!’ Whack! Whack! The last stroke of her hatchet cut right through the boiling black cloud, and the sun blazed out. That made the Thunder Beings turn and fly away as fast as they could fly, and you could hear them rumbling and howling, rumbling and howling until they were back under the edge of the world.”

Washtay! Washtay! Washtay!”

Eagle Voice waited for the applause to cease. After it had ceased, he still sat in silence, as though enjoying the golden peace of a world delivered.

“Maybe he can have the girl now—?” No Water ventured timidly.

“Chief’s daughter!” Moves Walking exclaimed.

Dho,” said Eagle Voice, smiling benignly upon the two. “The chief has his right arm again and Falling Star has the chief’s daughter. Also, he still has his first eagle plume and the hawk’s feather and the grasshopper. He did not need these powers; but he is going to have a son when the young grass comes again, and his son must have these, for there are more villages that need help, and his son will help them.

“You come back with the young grass and I will tell you all about it then.”