. . . all down through the Great, Great Long Ago, it
has ever been thus . . . and so it is to-day. Look at the cow of the
moose, the doe of the deer, the she of the lynx, the female of the
wolf, the she of the bear, the goose, the duck, the hen, and the female
of the rabbit. What do they do when they want a mate? . . . They
bellow and run, they meow and bow, they howl and prance, they twitter
and dance . . . just as women have always done. And when the male
comes, what does the female do? She pretends indifference, she feigns
innocence, she runs away, and stops to listen, _afraid lest she has run
too far_; and then, if he does not follow, she comes deceitfully back
again and pretends not even to see him. Remember, my son, that though
the female always runs away, she never runs so fast that she couldn't
run faster; and it makes no difference whether the female has wings or
fins, flippers or feet, it is all the same . . . the female always does
the courting."

No doubt, had they ever met, Oo-koo-hoo and George Bernard Shaw would
have become fast friends; for George, too, insists on the very same
thing. But does not the average man, from his great store of conceit,
draw the flattering inference that it is he and he alone who does the
courting, and that his success is entirely due to his wonderful display
of physical and mental charm; while the average woman looks in her
mirror and laughs in her sleeve--less gown.

Though for some time silence filled the tepee and the dogs were asleep
beside the door, the pipes still glowed; and Oo-koo-hoo, stirring the
fire, mused aloud:

"But, perhaps, my son, you wonder why the hen partridges dance that way
and why the cock drums his accompaniment?"

"It does seem strange," I replied.

"But not, my son, if you know their history. It is an old, old story,
and it began away back in the Great, Great, Long Ago, even before it
was the custom of our people to marry. It happened this way: Once
there was an old chief who used oftentimes to go away alone into the
woods and mount upon a high rock and sing his hunting songs and beat
his drum. Since he was much in favour, many women would come and
listen to his songs; also, they would dance before him--to attract his
attention.

"Now it came to pass on a certain day that a young chief of another
tribe happened by chance upon that way. Hearing the drumming, he
resolved to find out what it was about. Deep into the heart of the
woo