d and
blind, and the rest are but so-so. Who will catch mice for them, pray?"

"They will be adopted into other families, I suppose," answered the
hunter, "or the old woman will get another husband."

"Such may be the Indian custom," said the owl, "but it is not the custom
of my nation. Besides, the woman is so old and ugly that the Evil One
would not take her for a second wife. No, no, if you take my life, the
little ones will starve. Their eyes are very weak in the day time, and
they are too young and shy to go out by night. If you kill me they will
starve," repeated the owl.

"I am very hungry," said the hunter. "Neither fish nor flesh has been
taken by my nation for many days; the maiden whom I love is dying for
want of food. You would be a nice dish for her."

"Old and tough, old and tough," said the owl, winking very knowingly.
"But does not the Lenape hunter know that there are things to be worse
feared than death? The warrior should fear captivity and disgrace before
the evils of an unsatisfied appetite."

"The Delawares are men," said the hunter, proudly. "They are the masters
of the earth, they are never captured. They will themselves take care
that no disgrace falls upon them. The owl must be cooked for the dinner
of the Lenape maiden."

"The youngest son of the head chief of the Gray Owls is this night to
marry my daughter," said the captive. "May I not go to the feast? The
guests are assembled, the food is prepared, they wait but my presence."

"No," answered the hunter.

"Then will a warrior of the Delawares be a greater fool than the Mingo
who married a rattlesnake[A], and forgot to cut off her tail. He will be
deaf to the voice of a Great Medicine[B]; the owl bids him beware."

[Footnote A: See the Tradition in the third volume.]

[Footnote B: Medicine means Spirit--Great Medicine, Great Spirit.]

"Is my brother a Medicine?" asked the alarmed hunter.

"He is," answered the grave old bird, shaking his head. "If now the
Delaware hunter will suffer the owl to return to his family in the
hollow oak, the good deed shall never be forgotten by my tribe. There
shall be two eyes watching for the safety of the Delawares upon every
tree around their lodges. While they, wearied out by war or the chase,
are sleeping in darkness and imagined security, the owl shall stand
sentry, and warn them if danger should be nigh. When they hear the voice
of the owl, calling out in the depths of the night, 'Up! up! da