rd us. Mother growled terribly and rushed
upon them. She caught one, but many more came with their dogs and drove
us into a thicket. They sent the red willows singing after us, and two
of them stuck in mother's side. When we got away at last she tried to
pull them out, but they hurt her terribly. She pulled them both out at
last, but soon after she lay down and died.

"'I stayed in the woods alone for two days then I went around the
Minnewakan Chantay on the south side and there made my lonely den. There
I found plenty of hazel nuts, acorns and wild plums. Upon the plains the
teepsinna were abundant, and I saw nothing of my enemies.

"'One day I found a footprint not unlike my own. I followed it to
see who the stranger might be. Upon the bluffs among the oak groves
I discovered a beautiful young female gathering acorns. She was of a
different band from mine, for she wore a jet black dress.

"'At first she was disposed to resent my intrusion; but when I told her
of my lonely life she agreed to share it with me. We came back to my
home on the south side of the hill. There we lived happy for a whole
year. When the autumn came again Woshepee, for this was her name, said
that she must make a warm nest for the winter, and I was left alone
again.'

"Now," said Weyuha, "I have come to a part of my story that few people
understand. All the long winter Chotanka slept in his den, and with
the early spring there came a great thunder storm. He was aroused by a
frightful crash that seemed to shake the hills; and lo! a handsome young
man stood at his door. He looked, but was not afraid, for he saw that
the stranger carried none of those red willows with feathered tips. He
was unarmed and smiling.

"'I come,' said he, 'with a challenge to run a race. Whoever wins will
be the hero of his kind, and the defeated must do as the winner says
thereafter. This is a rare honor that I have brought you. The whole
world will see the race. The animal world will shout for you, and the
spirits will cheer me on. You are not a coward, and therefore you will
not refuse my challenge.'

"'No,' replied Chotanka, after a short hesitation. The young man was
fine-looking, but lightly built.

"'We shall start from the Chantay, and that will be our goal. Come, let
us go, for the universe is waiting!' impatiently exclaimed the stranger.

"He passed on in advance, and just then an old, old wrinkled man came to
Chotanka's door. He leaned forward upon his