wn from
the belly of the great fish and be drowned in the swirling water where
Nahma was fighting for life, and the little squirrel helped Hiawatha
drag his canoe into safety and tugged and pulled bravely at Hiawatha's
side. Hiawatha was grateful to the little squirrel, and told him that
for a reward the boys should always call him Adjidaumo, which means
"tail-in-the-air," and the little squirrel was much pleased.

At last everything became quiet, and Nahma, the great sturgeon, lay dead
and drifted on the surface of the water to the shore, where Hiawatha
heard him grate upon the pebbles. There was a great screaming and
flapping of wings outside, and finally a gleam of light shone to the
place where Hiawatha was sitting, and he could see the glittering eyes
of the sea-gulls, who had crawled into the open mouth of Nahma and were
peering down his gullet. Hiawatha called out to them: "O my Brothers,
the Sea-Gulls, I have killed the great King of Fishes, Nahma, the
sturgeon. Scratch and tear with your beaks and claws until the opening
becomes wider and you can set me free from this dark prison! Do this,
and men shall always call you Kayoshk, the sea-gulls, the Noble
Scratchers."

The sea-gulls set to work with a will, and scratched and tore at Nahma's
ribs until there was an opening wide enough for Hiawatha and the
squirrel to step through and to drag the canoe out after them. Hiawatha
called Nokomis, pointed to the body of the sturgeon and said: "See,
Nokomis, I have killed Nahma, the King of Fishes, and the sea-gulls feed
upon him. You must not drive them away, for they saved me from great
danger; but when they fly back to their nests at sunset, do you bring
your pots and kettles and make from Nahma's flesh enough oil to last us
through the winter."

Nokomis waited until sunset, when the sea-gulls had flown back to their
homes in the marshes, and she set to work with all her pots and kettles
to make yellow oil from the flesh of Nahma. She worked all night long
until the sun rose again and the sea-gulls came back screeching and
screaming for their breakfast; and for three days and three nights the
sea-gulls and Nokomis took turns in stripping the greasy flesh of Nahma
from his ribs, until nothing was left. Then the sea-gulls flew away for
good and all, Nokomis poured her oil into great jars, and on the sand
was only the bare skeleton of Nahma, who had once been the biggest and
the strongest fish that ever swam.