shaped wigwam upon the plain. One day
he sat hungry within his teepee. Suddenly he rushed out, dragging after
him his blanket. Quickly spreading it on the ground, he tore up dry tall
grass with both his hands and tossed it fast into the blanket.

Tying all the four corners together in a knot, he threw the light bundle
of grass over his shoulder.

Snatching up a slender willow stick with his free left hand, he started
off with a hop and a leap. From side to side bounced the bundle on his
back, as he ran light-footed over the uneven ground. Soon he came to the
edge of the great level land. On the hilltop he paused for breath. With
wicked smacks of his dry parched lips, as if tasting some tender meat,
he looked straight into space toward the marshy river bottom. With a
thin palm shading his eyes from the western sun, he peered far away into
the lowlands, munching his own cheeks all the while. "Ah-ha!" grunted
he, satisfied with what he saw.

A group of wild ducks were dancing and feasting in the marshes. With
wings outspread, tip to tip, they moved up and down in a large circle.
Within the ring, around a small drum, sat the chosen singers, nodding
their heads and blinking their eyes.

They sang in unison a merry dance-song, and beat a lively tattoo on the
drum.

Following a winding footpath near by, came a bent figure of a Dakota
brave. He bore on his back a very large bundle. With a willow cane he
propped himself up as he staggered along beneath his burden.

"Ho! who is there?" called out a curious old duck, still bobbing up and
down in the circular dance.

Hereupon the drummers stretched their necks till they strangled their
song for a look at the stranger passing by.

"Ho, Iktomi! Old fellow, pray tell us what you carry in your blanket. Do
not hurry off! Stop! halt!" urged one of the singers.

"Stop! stay! Show us what is in your blanket!" cried out other voices.

"My friends, I must not spoil your dance. Oh, you would not care to see
if you only knew what is in my blanket. Sing on! dance on! I must not
show you what I carry on my back," answered Iktomi, nudging his own
sides with his elbows. This reply broke up the ring entirely. Now all
the ducks crowded about Iktomi.

"We must see what you carry! We must know what is in your blanket!"
they shouted in both his ears. Some even brushed their wings against the
mysterious bundle. Nudging himself again, wily Iktomi said, "My friends,
't is only a pack of songs