s beloved by the
whole family.

As soon as the first buds of spring appeared, and the delicious
fragrance of the young year began to sweeten the air, his father, with
the help of his younger brothers, built for Wunzh the customary little
lodge, at a retired spot at some distance from their own, where he would
not be disturbed during the solemn rite.

To prepare himself, Wunzh sought to clear his heart of every evil
thought, and to think of nothing that was not good, and beautiful, and
kindly.

That he might store his mind with pleasant ideas for his dreams, for the
first few days he amused himself by walking in the woods and over the
mountains, examining the early plants and flowers.

As he rambled far and wide, through the wild country, he felt a strong
desire to know how the plants and herbs and berries grew, without any
aid from man, and why it was that some kinds were good to eat, and that
others were possessed of medicinal or poisonous power.

After he had become too languid to walk about, and confined himself
strictly to the lodge, he recalled these thoughts, and turning them in
his mind, he wished he could dream of something that would prove a
benefit to his father and family, and to all others of his
fellow-creatures.

"True," thought Wunzh, "the Great Spirit made all things, and it is to
him that we owe our lives. Could he not make it easier for us to get our
food, than by hunting animals and taking fish? I must try to find this
out in my visions."

On the third day Wunzh became weak and faint, and kept his bed. Suddenly
he fancied, as he lay thus, that a bright light came in at the lodge
door, and ere he was aware, he saw a handsome young man, with a
complexion of the softest and purest white, coming down from the sky,
and advancing toward him.

The beautiful stranger was richly and gayly dressed, having on a great
many garments of green and yellow colors, but differing in their deeper
or lighter shades. He had a plume of waving feathers on his head, and
all his motions were graceful, and reminded Wunzh of the deep green of
the summer grass, and the clear amber of the summer sky, and the gentle
blowing of the summer wind. Beautiful as the stranger was, he paused on
a little mound of earth, just before the door of the lodge.

"I am sent to you, my friend," said this celestial visitor, in a voice
most soft and musical to listen to, "I am sent to you by that Great
Spirit who made all things in the sky