and its points were up.
That means fine, warm weather."

"I wish I knew as much as grandfather," said Fine-bow with pride.

The pipe was laid aside at once upon our entering the lodge and the old
warrior said:

"I have told you that OLD-man taught the animals and the birds all they
know. He made them and therefore knew just what each would have to
understand in order to make his living. They have never forgotten
anything he told them--even to this day. Their grandfathers told the
young ones what they had been told, just as I am telling you the things
you should know. Be like the birds and animals--tell your children and
grandchildren what I have told you, that our people may always know how
things were made, and why strange things are true.

"Yes--OLD-man taught the Beaver how to build his dams to make the water
deeper; taught the Squirrel to plant the pine-nut so that another tree
might grow and have nuts for his children; told the Bear to go to sleep
in the winter, when the snow made hard travelling for his short
legs--told him to sleep, and promised him that he would need no meat
while he slept. All winter long the Bear sleeps and eats nothing,
because OLD-man told him that he could. He sleeps so much in the
winter that he spends most of his time in summer hunting.

"It was OLD-man who showed the Owl how to hunt at night and it was
OLD-man that taught the Weasel all his wonderful ways--his bloodthirsty
ways--for the Weasel is the bravest of the animal-people, considering
his size. He taught the Beaver one strange thing that you have
noticed, and that is to lay sticks on the creek-bottoms, so that they
will stay there as long as he wants them to.

"Whenever the animal-people got into trouble they always sought OLD-man
and told him about it. All were busy working and making a living, when
one day it commenced to rain. That was nothing, of course, but it
didn't stop as it had always done before. No, it kept right on raining
until the rivers overran their banks, and the water chased the Weasel
out of his hole in the ground. Yes, and it found the Rabbit's
hiding-place and made him leave it. It crept into the lodge of the
Wolf at night and frightened his wife and children. It poured into the
den of the Bear among the rocks and he had to move. It crawled under
the logs in the forest and found the Mice-people. Out it went to the
plains and chased them out of their homes in the buffalo skulls. At
last t