ever done, and this Iagoo once
made a bow for Hiawatha, and said to him: "Take this bow, and go into
the forest hunting. Kill a fine roebuck and bring us back his horns."
So Hiawatha went into the forest all alone with his bow and arrows, and
because he knew the language of the wild things he could tell what all
the birds and animals were saying to him.

"Do not shoot us, Hiawatha!" said the robins; and the squirrels
scrambled in fright up the trunks of the trees, coughing and chattering:
"Do not shoot us, Hiawatha!" But for once Hiawatha did not care or even
hear what the birds and beasts were saying to him.

At last he saw the tracks of the red deer, and he followed them to the
river bank, where he hid among the bushes and waited until two antlers
rose above the thicket and a fine buck stepped out into the path and
snuffed the wind. Hiawatha's heart beat quickly and he rose to one knee
and aimed his arrow. "Twang!" went the bowstring, and the buck leaped
high into the air and fell down dead, with the arrow in his heart.
Hiawatha dragged the buck that he had killed back to the wigwam of
Nokomis, and Nokomis and Iagoo were much pleased. From the buck-skin
they made a fine cloak for Hiawatha; they hung up the antlers in the
wigwam, and invited everybody in the village to a feast of deer's flesh.
And the Indians all came and feasted, and called Hiawatha "Strong
Heart."

IV

HIAWATHA AND MUDJEKEEWIS

THE years passed, and Hiawatha grew from a child into a strong and
active man. He was so wise that the old men knew far less than he, and
often asked him for advice, and he was such a fine hunter that he never
missed his aim. He was so swift of foot that he could shoot an arrow and
catch it in its flight or let it fall behind him; he was so strong that
he could shoot ten arrows up into the air, and the last of them would
leave his bow before the first had fallen to the ground. He had magic
mittens made of deer-skin, and when he wore them on his hands he could
break the rocks with them and grind the pieces into powder; he had magic
moccasins also--shoes made of deer-skin that he tied about his feet, and
when he put on these he could take a mile at every step.

Hiawatha thought a great deal about his father, Mudjekeewis, and often
plagued Nokomis with questions about him, until at last she told
Hiawatha how his mother had loved Mudjekeewis, who left her to die of
sorrow; and Hiawatha was so angry when he heard the