win Stars were shining brightly. He sprang to his feet in
amazement and wonder, the words of the prophecy coming back to him.
'Where the two bright eyes of heaven are seen shining at noonday, there
will the fortune of my people be found.' It was just midday. And there
were the stars shining down the shaft. The Great Spirit had brought the
miracle to pass! But where was the fortune? Forgetting that he was hard
pressed by the enemies, Blue Elk ran from the cave. His pursuers were
nowhere in sight. He looked eagerly into the sky to behold the sight of
the stars shining in daylight. They had vanished. Was it a dream, a
trick of the imagination?

"He ran back into the cave and there were the stars shining as brightly
as before. Then the truth came to him. The Great Spirit had said that
where the stars shone there would the fortune be found. They were not
shining outside, there was no fortune there; they were shining in the
cave, so the fortune was in the cave. He looked around carefully. On the
floor were some pieces of what he thought were stones. But they
glittered in a strange way. 'The stars have come down into the stones!'
said Blue Elk. 'These Star Stones are the fortune of my people!' (The
Star Stones were silver ore.) And a fortune they proved to be. With them
his people were able to buy peace with the surrounding tribes and extend
their hunting grounds so that they no longer wanted for food or skins or
blankets. And Blue Elk believed firmly to his dying day that the Great
Spirit had spoken to him in person during his fast on the mountain."

* * * * *

"Oh, what a lovely story!" said Gladys. "Thank you very much for telling
it. Is it a true story?"

"The Indian who told it to me certainly believed it," replied Colonel
Berry.

"But," objected the practical Sahwah, "how was it possible for the stars
to shine in daylight?"

"Have you ever looked up through a very tall chimney?" asked the
colonel. "By looking through a long, dark, narrow shaft it is possible
to see the stars in daylight. I myself have seen the Little Dipper at
noonday in that manner. You will remember that Blue Elk was in a cave in
a hillside. A long, narrow passage through the rocks led to a hole in
the roof. Looking through this he saw the Twin Stars, and the supposed
miracle was merely a phenomenon of nature. Naturally, when he went
outside, he could not see them."

Colonel Berry told many more tales