is canoe were examined speedily. There the children found a couple of
beavers that had but lately been trapped, and a dozen or more muskrats that
Souwanas had speared in the marshes. These animals were the result of one
night's hunting, and now Souwanas was on his way home to have them skinned
and the pelts prepared for sale to the fur traders.

The children's curiosity was much aroused by the sight of the beavers and
muskrats, and they questioned the old man about them. The queer, broad,
scaly tail of the beavers much interested them, and drew from Souwanas an
interesting account of the various purposes for which the clever,
industrious beavers use this apparently awkward appendage.

"Do you know any Nanahboozhoo stories in which he tells anything about
beavers or muskrats?" asked Sagastao.

"Yes, indeed," replied Souwanas; "in nearly all the stories that are told
about the forming of the new land after the great flood both the beaver and
the muskrat are mentioned, as well as the other animals."

"Tell us one of the stories," urged little Minnehaha.

The arrival of some other canoes at this point interrupted the
conversation. The newcomers were on their way to the wigwam of Souwanas,
who was their chief. He was about to go on with them, but when he saw the
look of disappointment on the faces of the children he, with his usual
thoughtful kindness, transferred the two beavers and the muskrats from his
own canoe to one of the late arrivals. Then telling the people to give them
to his wife, to have them all cooked and ready for dinner, by which time he
would join them, he sent the people on their way. Having lighted his
calumet, with the children seated near him, he began:

"Nanahboozhoo's life commenced long before the great flood of waters that
covered the earth, about which all of our tribes have heard something. He
had his own wigwam and furnished it with everything he wanted. One day when
walking on the shore of a great river he saw some sea lions lying on the
sandy beach, basking in the sun. These animals, like the beaver, could live
as well in the water as on the land. As he closely watched them from a
distance, and saw the rich, shiny skins, he thought what a nice tobacco
pouch could be made out of one of them. When Nanahboozhoo once set his
heart on anything he at once began to work hard to secure it. He tried
various plans to capture one of these sea-lions, but none of them
succeeded. They were too clever to