from
him!" and they shot their arrows at the fisher and the wolverine. The
wolverine dropped through the hole, but the fisher was not quick enough,
and he could not get away.

The Great Spirit said, "The heavens have the summer all the year, but
the earth shall have summer half the year. I shall close the hole in the
floor so the fisher cannot go down to earth again, but I will make him
into a fish and give him a place in the heavens."

When the Indians look up at the sky, they see a fish in the stars, and
they say, "That is the good fisher who gave us the beautiful summer."

THE STORY OF THE FIRST SNOWDROPS.

An old man sat alone in his house. It Was full of shadows; it was dark
and gloomy. The old man cared nothing for the shadows or the darkness,
for he was thinking of all the mighty deeds that he had done. "There is
no one else in the world," he muttered, "who has done such deeds as I,"
and he counted them over aloud. A sound outside of the house interrupted
him. "What can it be?" he said to himself. "How dares anything interrupt
me? I have told all things to be still. It sounds like the rippling of
waters, and I have told the waters to be quiet in their beds. There it
is again. It is like the singing of birds, and I have sent the birds far
away to the south."

Some one opened the door and came in. It was a youth with sunny curls
and rosy face.

"Who said you might come in?" muttered the old man.

"Did not you?" asked the youth, with a merry little laugh. "I am really
afraid that I came without asking. You see, every one is glad to see me
and"--

"I am not," interrupted the old man.

"I have heard rumors of your great deeds," said the youth, "and I came
to see whether the tales are true."

"The deeds are more true than the tales," muttered the old man, "for the
tales are never great enough. No one can count the wonderful things I
have done."

"And what are they?" asked the young man gravely, but with a merry
little twinkle in his eyes that would have made one think of the waves
sparkling in the sunlight. "Let us see whether you or I can tell the
greatest tale."

"I can breathe upon a river and turn it to ice," said the old man.

"I can breathe upon the ice and turn it to a river," said the youth.

"I can say to water, 'Stand still,' and it will not dare to stir."

"I can say, 'Stand no longer,' and it will go running and chattering
down the mountain side."

"I shake my white head," said