d and the people in it. He was deeply
religious, and every Indian child loved him for his goodness and brave
deeds.

About the fire were Little Buffalo Calf, a boy of eleven years;
Eyes-in-the-Water, his sister, a girl of nine; Fine Bow, a cousin of
these, aged ten, and Bluebird, his sister, who was but eight years old.

Not a sound did the children make while the old warrior filled his
great pipe, and only the snapping of the lodge-fire broke the
stillness. Solemnly War Eagle lit the tobacco that had been mixed with
the dried inner bark of the red willow, and for several minutes smoked
in silence, while the children's eyes grew large with expectancy.
Finally he spoke:

"Napa, OLD-man, is very old indeed. He made this world, and all that
is on it. He came out of the south, and travelled toward the north,
making the birds and animals as he passed. He made the perfumes for
the winds to carry about, and he even made the war-paint for the people
to use. He was a busy worker, but a great liar and thief, as I shall
show you after I have told you more about him. It was OLD-man who
taught the beaver all his cunning. It was OLD-man who told the bear to
go to sleep when the snow grew deep in winter, and it was he who made
the curlew's bill so long and crooked, although it was not that way at
first. OLD-man used to live on this world with the animals and birds.
There was no other man or woman then, and he was chief over all the
animal-people and the bird-people. He could speak the language of the
robin, knew the words of the bear, and understood the sign-talk of the
beaver, too. He lived with the wolves, for they are the great hunters.
Even to-day we make the same sign for a smart man as we make for the
wolf; so you see he taught them much while he lived with them. OLD-man
made a great many mistakes in making things, as I shall show you after
a while; yet he worked until he had everything good. But he often made
great mischief and taught many wicked things. These I shall tell you
about some day. Everybody was afraid of OLD-man and his tricks and
lies--even the animal-people, before he made men and women. He used to
visit the lodges of our people and make trouble long ago, but he got so
wicked that Manitou grew angry at him, and one day in the month of
roses, he built a lodge for OLD-man and told him that he must stay in
it forever. Of course he had to do that, and nobody knows where the
lodge was built, nor in