t she heard the visitor coming. Thump, thump, thump, it came along
the trail. There were three raps.

"Come in," called the woman, but the latch did not move in her hand. She
waited. Again came the raps.

This time she threw wide open the door, and there stood a great black
bear. He showed his sharp teeth and growled, "Are you at home?"

The woman looked him straight in the eye and replied, "I am at home."

At once the bear turned on his heel and went down the trail, as fast as
he could go.

Never again did the woman hear that strange thump, thump, thump; and
never again did the bear call to see if she were at home.

[Illustration]

WHY THE WOODPECKER BORES FOR ITS FOOD

Once upon a time, the Great Spirit left the Happy Hunting Ground and
came to earth. He took the form of a poor, hungry man. He went from
wigwam to wigwam, asking for food.

Sometimes he found the Indians sitting around the fire, telling stories
and talking of the Great Spirit. Then the man would pass by unseen.

One day, he came to a wigwam in which a woman was baking cakes.

"I am very hungry," the man said. "Will you please give me a cake?"

The woman looked at the man, and then at the cake. She saw that it was
too large to give away.

She said, "I will not give you this cake, but I will bake you one, if
you will wait."

The hungry man said, "I will wait."

[Illustration]

Then the woman took a small piece of dough and made it into a cake and
baked it. But when she took this cake from the coals, it was larger than
the first.

Again the woman looked at her cake. Again she saw it was too large to
give away. Again she said, "I will not give you this one, but I will
bake you one, if you will wait."

Again the man said, "I will wait."

This time the woman took a very, very, tiny bit of dough, and made it
into a cake.

"Surely, this will be small enough to give away," she thought, yet when
baked it was larger than both the others.

The woman stood and looked at the three cakes. Each was too large to
give away.

"I will not give you any of the cakes," she said to the man. "Go to the
woods, and find your food in the bark of trees."

Then the man stood up and threw off his ragged blanket and worn
moccasins. His face shone like the sun, and he was very beautiful. The
woman shrank into the shadow of the wigwam. She could not look upon his
face, for the light.

"I am the Great Spirit," said he, "and you are a selfish woman.