lovely cap of tufted
feathers to hide the bite of the wicked sharp-thing-made-by-man. Pray,
let me go, dear Master Owl."

The Owl considered for a moment, and then decided to accept the bargain.
For he thought of Putri Balan, the Princess of the Moon, and knew that
he should lose his last chance to win her if she happened to see him
with this ridiculous wound in his head.

So the Rat gave him a nice cap of tufted feathers, which he wears to
this day; and the Owl let the thief go free. But after that there was a
coolness between them, as you may well imagine.

THE GOOD HUNTER

Once upon a time there was an Indian who was a famous hunter. But he did
not hunt for fun; he took no pleasure in killing the little wild
creatures, birds and beasts and fishes, and did so only when it was
necessary for him to have food or skins for his clothing. He was a very
kind and generous man, and loved all the wood-creatures dearly, often
feeding them from his own larder, and protecting them from their
enemies. So the animals and birds loved him as their best friend, and he
was known as the Good Hunter.

The Good Hunter was very brave, and often went to war with the fierce
savages who were the enemies of his tribe. One sad day he set forth with
a war party, and they had a terrible battle, in which the Good Hunter
was slain, and his enemies took away his scalp, leaving him lying dead
in the forest.

The Good Hunter had not remained long cold and lifeless in the shadowy
stillness, when the Fox came trotting through the woods. "Alack and
alas!" cried the Fox, spying the body stretched on the leaves. "Here is
our dear friend, the Good Hunter, slain! Alack and alas! what shall we
do now that our dear friend and protector is gone?"

The Fox ran out into the forest crying the death lament, which was the
signal to all the beasts that something most sorrowful had happened.
Soon they came flocking to the spot, all the animals of the forest. By
hundreds they came, and surrounding the body of their friend raised the
most doleful howls. For, though they rubbed him with their warm noses,
and licked him with their warm tongues, and nestled against him with
their warm fur, they could not bring him back to warm life.

They called upon Brother Bear to speak and tell them what to do; for he
was the nearest relative to man. The Bear sat up on his haunches and
spoke to the sad assembly with tears in his eyes, begging each animal to
look carefu