the Indian's wish.

[Illustration]

THE INDIAN BABY AND HER CRADLE

Why is the happy song of the robin heard beside the lodge? Why chirps
the cricket so merrily?

Can you not guess? There is a new daughter in the wigwam. Another wood
gatherer and fire maker has come to the tribe.

"Bring the new cradle, Nokomis. Let me have the beautiful cradle I
have made for my little daughter." And Good Bird, the mother, points
with pride to a strange-looking object that is not at all like the
cradle your baby sleeps in.

A straight board leans against the inner lining of the lodge. To one
side of it is fastened a white doeskin bag which is trimmed with
beautiful fringes and beadwork. Can this be a baby's cradle?

Nokomis, the grandmother, opens the bag, which is laced down the
middle with colored strings. She makes a bed of soft moss upon the
hard board and lays the papoose very straight in its little frame.

Laced and bound, this strange cradle is hung to the top of the lodge.
A bow of curved wood protects the baby's head from injury, should the
cradle fall.

As the little papoose swings gently, the Indian mother sings a
lullaby, and this is the one she often sings:

"Wa wa--wa wa--wa wa yea,
Swinging, swinging, lullaby.
Sleep thou, sleep thou, sleep thou.
Little daughter, lullaby.
Wa wa--wa wa--wa wa."

Slower and slower swings the cradle and the black eyes close in sleep.

"What shall we name the little one?" asks the mother.

Nokomis stands in the door of the wigwam. Through the trees she sees the
blue water of the lake. White clouds are moving rapidly across the sky.

"White Cloud shall be her name," answers Nokomis.

Good Bird, the mother, smiles and nods. As she watches the cradle, she
talks to the sleeping child.

"My little woman, you shall be a fire maker and a lodge keeper like
your mother. You shall help me tan the skins for clothing. I will
teach you to make beautiful dresses and trim them with beadwork and
quills. Your father and your brother will be proud to wear the
moccasins you make.

"You shall go with me to the lake when the rice is ready to harvest.
Together we will hunt the wild berries and the nuts. You shall be your
mother's helper, my little daughter, White Cloud."

WHITE CLOUD'S FIRST RIDE

White Cloud, the baby daughter of Good Bird, is having her first ride
out of doors. Do you think she is in a baby buggy like your little
sister's? Or do you