all his tricks of mischief."

"Grandmother, look! Here is an arrow on the ground."

"Let it be. We will not annoy the spirits. Now we must hurry home, for
the clouds darken and I can hear the loud voices of the Thunderers
starting out from their sky home."

BLACK WOLF TELLS A STORY

The boys were practicing with their bows and arrows. After a few
trials, in which little skill was shown, Swift Elk threw down his bow.
"I'm tired of shooting," he said. "Come on, boys, let's go to the lake
for a swim."

Black Wolf, the oldest warrior of the tribe, was sitting on the ground
near by, watching the sport.

"Do not give up," said the old man. "You are a big boy now. Only by
skill in shooting can you become a brave warrior. Let no one know you
are tired or weak. Remember the boy who was changed to the lone
lightning of the North."

"Tell us the story," Swift Elk begged. "Then we will practice again
and do our best."

The boys threw themselves on the ground near Black Wolf, and he began
the story.

"There was once a little boy who had no one to care for him. His father
had been killed in war, and his mother taken captive by the enemy.

"Minno, the lonely boy, lived in his uncle's wigwam, but he was not
wanted there. He had hard work to do and very little to eat.

"He was too weak to join the rough games of his playmates, and he did
not become skillful with his bow and arrows like the other boys of the
tribe.

"At last he became so thin from hunger that the uncle feared his cruel
treatment would become known.

"So he told his wife to feed the boy with bear's meat. 'Give him
plenty of fat,' he ordered. 'Cram him with bear's fat.' It was now the
uncle's plan to kill the boy by overfeeding.

"One day when Minno had been nearly choked with fat meat, he ran away.
He wandered about in the woods, and when night came he was afraid of
the wild beasts. So he climbed into a tall tree and fell asleep in
the branches.

"In his dreams a person came to him from the upper sky and said: 'My
poor little lad, I pity you. Follow me, and be sure to step in my
tracks.'

"So the lad arose and followed his guide up, up, into the upper sky.
There he was given twelve magic arrows and told to shoot the manitoes
of the North.

"'They are the evil spirits of the air,' said his guide. 'You must go
to war against them. I have given you magic arrows that will kill them
if your aim is true.'

"The boy placed an arrow with great ca