But Shee-shee-banze took no notice of the invitation. He only whistled,
and pretended not to hear. The messenger repeated his words, then,
finding that no attention was paid to them, he went his way.

The young girls looked at each other, during the scene, greatly
astonished. At length the elder spoke.

"What does this mean?" said she. "Why does he call you Shee-shee-banze,
and invite you to visit Way-gee-mar-kin?"

"Oh," said Shee-shee-banze, "it is one of my followers that always likes
to be a little impudent. I am obliged to put up with it sometimes, but
you observed that I treated him with silent contempt."

The messenger returned to the chief, and reported the manner in which
the invitation had been received.

"Oh," said the good-natured chief, "it is because he feels that he is
poor and insignificant. Go back again--call him by my name, and make a
flourishing speech to him."

The messenger fulfilled his mission as he was bid.

"Way-gee-mar-kin," said he, pompously, "a great feast is to be given
to-night, and I am sent most respectfully to solicit the honor of your
company!"

"Did I not tell you?" said Shee-shee-banze to the maidens Then, nodding
with careless condescension, he added, "Tell them I'll come."

At night, Shee-shee-banze dressed himself in his very best paint,
feathers, and ornaments--but before his departure he took his
grandmother aside.

"Be sure," said he, "that you watch these young people closely until I
come back. Shut up your lodge tight, _tight_. Let no one come in or go
out, and, above all things, do not go to sleep."

These orders given, he went his way.

The grandmother tried her best to keep awake, but finding herself
growing more and more sleepy, as the night wore on, she took a strong
cord and laced across the mat which hung before the entrance to the
lodge, as the Indians lace up the mouths of their bags, then, having
seen all things secure and the girls quiet in bed, she lay down and soon
fell into a comfortable sleep.

The young girls, in the mean while, were dying with curiosity to know
what had become of Shee-shee-banze, and as soon as they were sure the
old lady was asleep, they prepared to follow him and see what was going
on. Fearing, however, that the grandmother might awake and discover
their absence, they took two logs of wood, and, putting them under the
blanket, so disposed them as to present the appearance of persons
sleeping quietly. They then cut the co