第40章

Wabeda,the dog,lay near the fire in a half doze,watching out of the corners of his eyes the tame raccoon,which snuggled back against the walls of the teepee,his shrewd brain,doubtless,concocting some mischief for the hours of darkness.I had already recited a legend of our people.All agreed that I had done well.Having been generously praised,I was eager to earn some more compli-ments by learning a new one,so I begged my uncle to tell me a story.Musingly he replied:

"I can give you a Sioux-Cree tradition,"and immediately began:

"Many winters ago,there were six teepees stand-ing on the southern slope of Moose mountain in the Moon of Wild Cherries (September).The men to whom these teepees belonged had been at-tacked by the Sioux while hunting buffalo,and nearly all killed.Two or three who managed to get home to tell their sad story were mortally wounded,and died soon afterward.There was only one old man and several small boys left to hunt and provide for this unfortunate little band of women and children.

"They lived upon teepsinna (wild turnips)and berries for many days.They were almost famished for meat.The old man was too feeble to hunt successfully.One day in this desolate camp a young Cree maiden--for such they were--declared that she could no longer sit still and see her peo-ple suffer.She took down her dead father's second bow and quiver full of arrows,and begged her old grandmother to accompany her to Lake Wana-giska,where she knew that moose had oftentimes been found.I forgot to tell you that her name was Manitoshaw.

This Manitoshaw and her old grandmother,Nawakewee,took each a pony and went far up into the woods on the side of the mountain.They pitched their wigwam just out of sight of the lake,and hobbled their ponies.Then the old woman said to Manitoshaw:

"'Go,my granddaughter,to the outlet of the Wanagiska,and see if there are any moose tracks there.When I was a young woman,I came here with your father's father,and we pitched our tent near this spot.In the night there came three dif-ferent moose.Bring me leaves of the birch and cedar twigs;I will make medicine for moose,'she added.

Manitoshaw obediently disappeared in the woods.It was a grove of birch and willow,with two good springs.Down below was a marshy place.

Nawakewee had bidden the maiden look for nib-bled birch and willow twigs,for the moose loves to eat them,and to have her arrow ready upon the bow-string.I have seen this very place many a time,"added my uncle,and this simple remark gave to the story an air of real-ity.

"The Cree maiden went first to the spring,and there found fresh tracks of the animal she sought.

She gathered some cedar berries and chewed them,and rubbed some of them on her garments so that the moose might not scent her.The sun was al-ready set,and she felt she must return to Na-wakewee.

"Just then Hinhankaga,the hooting owl,gave his doleful night call.The girl stopped and lis-tened attentively.

"'I thought it was a lover's call,'she whispered to herself.A singular challenge pealed across the lake.She recognized the alarm call of the loon,and fancied that the bird might have caught a glimpse of her game.

"Soon she was within a few paces of the tem-porary lodge of pine boughs and ferns which the grandmother had constructed.The old woman met her on the trail.

"'Ah,my child,you have returned none too soon.I feared you had ventured too far away;for the Sioux often come to this place to hunt.

You must not expose yourself carelessly on the shore.'

"As the two women lay down to sleep they could hear the ponies munch the rich grass in an open spot near by.Through the smoke hole of the pine-bough wigwam Manitoshaw gazed up into the starry sky,and dreamed of what she would do on the morrow when she should surprise the wily moose.Her grandmother was already sleep-ing so noisily that it was enough to scare away the game.At last the maiden,too,lost herself in sleep.

"Old Nawakewee awoke early.First of all she made a fire and burned cedar and birch so that the moose might not detect the human smell.Then she quickly prepared a meal of wild turnips and berries,and awoke the maiden,who was surprised to see that the sun was already up.

She ran down to the spring and hastily splashed handsful of the cold water in her face;then she looked for a moment in its mirror-like surface.

There was the reflection of two moose by the open shore and beyond them Manitoshaw seemed to see a young man standing.In another moment all three had disappeared.

"'What is the matter with my eyes?I am not fully awake yet,and I imagine things.Ugh,it is all in my eyes,'the maiden repeated to her-self.She hastened back to Nawakewee.The vision was so unexpected and so startling that she could not believe in its truth,and she said noth-ing to the old woman.

"Breakfast eaten,Manitoshaw threw off her robe and appeared in her scantily cut gown of buckskin with long fringes,and moccasins and leggings trimmed with quills of the porcupine.

Her father's bow and quiver were thrown over one shoulder,and the knife dangled from her belt in its handsome sheath.She ran breathlessly along the shore toward the outlet.

"Way off near the island Medoza the loon swam with his mate,occasionally uttering a cry of joy.

Here and there the playful Hogan,the trout,sprang gracefully out of the water,in a shower of falling dew.As the maiden hastened along she scared up Wadawasee,the kingfisher,who screamed loudly.

"'Stop,Wadawasee,stop--you will frighten my game!'