"What shall I do?" he asked. "This bear I can never carry alone, and it
was agreed between my friend there and myself, that we should not divide
it till we reached home. Can't you change my friend back, Manabozho?"

"I would like to oblige you," answered Manabozho, "but it is utterly out
of my power."

With this, looking again at the rock with a sad and bewildered face, and
then casting a sorrowful glance at the bear, which lay by the door of
the lodge, the hunter took his leave, bewailing bitterly at heart the
loss of his friend and his bear.

He was scarcely out of sight when Manabozho sent the children to get red
willow sticks. Of these he cut off as many pieces, of equal length, as
would serve to invite his friends among the beasts and birds to a feast.
A red stick was sent to each one, not forgetting the woodpecker and his
family.

When they arrived they were astonished to see such an abundance of meat
prepared for them at such a time of scarcity. Manabozho understood their
glance, and was proud of a chance to make such a display.

"Akewazi," he said to the oldest of the party, "the weather is very
cold, and the snow lasts a long time; we can kill nothing now but small
squirrels, and they are all black; and I have sent for you to help me
eat some of them."

The woodpecker was the first to try a mouthful of the bear's meat, but
he had no sooner began to taste it than it changed into a dry powder,
and set him coughing. It appeared as bitter as ashes.

The moose was affected in the same way, and it brought on such a dry
cough as to shake every bone in his body.

One by one, each in turn joined the company of coughers, except
Manabozho and his family, to whom the bear's meat proved very savory.

But the visitors had too high a sense of what was due to decorum and
good manners to say any thing. The meat looked very fine, and being
keenly set and strongly tempted by its promising look, they thought
they would try more of it. The more they ate the faster they coughed,
and the louder became the uproar, until Manabozho, exerting the magical
gift which he found he retained, changed them all into squirrels; and to
this day the squirrel suffers from the same dry cough which was brought
on by attempting to sup off of Manabozho's ashen bear's meat.

And ever after this transformation, when Manabozho lacked provisions for
his family he would hunt the squirrel, a supply of which never failed
him, so that he was always