f his brother, and supposed that the hunter had killed
him. So he thought, how he might be revenged upon him.

"That is a fine pelt you have there," said he to the hunter. "I should
like to buy it."

"Yes," replied the hunter, "it is a fine one, but I do not care to sell
it."

"I will give you more than it is worth," said the magician. And he
offered everything that he had except his magic wigwam.

"No, I do not care to sell it," answered the hunter to each new offer.
But finally, he said, "If you will give me that fine lodge of yours, you
may have the skin."

"It's a bargain," said the magician; "the lodge is yours. But you must
keep me overnight. We will sleep in your new lodge, which is much finer
and better furnished than this."

"Very well," replied the hunter, "but you must show me how to carry my
new lodge upon my head as you did."

"Oh, that is easy," returned the magician, "you just pick it up and put
it on your head. Come out and try it now."

The hunter went out and picked up the lodge and put it upon his head. He
found he could carry it easily, for it was as light as a wicker basket.

When he put it upon the ground, it at once grew as large as before. So
the hunter and his wife and the stranger went into the lodge. Its new
owner was greatly pleased with it. It contained several large rooms, in
one of which was a very fine bed covered with a white bear skin. On that
bed the hunter and his wife lay down to sleep, while the stranger found
a bed in another room.

In the morning when the hunter and his wife awoke, they were more
delighted than ever with their new lodge. It seemed large and airy, and
from the beams high above their heads hung all kinds of things good to
eat. There were ducks and geese, rabbits and venison, ears of corn, and
bags of maple sugar.

In their joy, the man and his wife sprang out of bed and made a jump
toward the dainties. At once the white bear skin melted and ran away,
for it was nothing but the snow of winter. At the same time, their arms
spread out into wings, and they flew up to the food, which was only the
early buds of the birch tree on which they hung. For the magician had
cast a spell upon the man and the woman and they had become partridges
and had been sheltering themselves from the storms of winter under a
snowdrift, after the manner of their kind, and now came forth to greet
the pleasant spring.

And these two were the first partridges, the foreparents of all