killed today. He was sixteen feet long, and weighed
five hundred pounds.' Another would say, 'Pooh, that is nothing! Why,
you ought to see an Indian who tried to catch me in a net! Why, I not
only pulled him in the water and dragged him all over the bottom, but I
made him promise he would never disturb any of the catfish tribe after
this!'

"Just then a little bird flew over the water and his shadow so startled
the boastful catfish, they buried themselves in the mud at the bottom of
the stream.

"After a while," Grand'pa Skeeterhawk continued, "They got up courage
to peek out of the mud, and as they saw nothing to frighten them, they
formed in a circle and told more tales of their fighting qualities.

"One old catfish who had been the leader because he could tell the
biggest tales and hide under the mud quicker than any of the others
finally said: 'We are the best fish in the water, as you all know, so
I think it will be a good plan to fight everything that comes near the
water from the land!'

"'Shall we fight the big hawk who wades in the water and catches some of
us?' asked a little kitten fish.

[Illustration]

"'Kitten fish should be seen and not heard!' the old chief catfish
answered quickly. I do not believe we should harm the hawk. He is not
large enough. I was thinking of the large beast who comes wading along
the shores and eats the grasses that grow beneath the surface. You know
he has to raise his head every once-in-a-while in order to breathe, so
if we should all hang on to him we could pull him under the water.'

"So the catfish, although they were so frightened that their fins grew
stiff, decided that they would follow their chief, for they expected he
would be the first to hide under the mud when the big beast came.

"Finally old Omasko, the elk, came down to the river to feed, and the
old chief catfish swam out and pulled on Omasko's whiskers, and all the
other catfish cried: 'See how brave and fearless the mighty catfish
are!' and they all swam out and pulled Omasko's whiskers, too. This made
Omasko very angry, for he never harmed any fish in his life.

"He began jumping and pawing with his heavy hoofs, and smashed all the
catfish down in the mud and when they finally came out again, which was
not until two or three days later, their heads were as flat as they are
now!

"That is why all catfish have flat heads," Grandfather Skeeterhawk
finished.

"It served them right for being so boastfu