he Beavers' dams broke under the strain and that made everything
worse. It was bad--very bad, indeed. Everybody except the fish-people
were frightened and all went to find OLD-man that they might tell him
what had happened. Finally they found his fire, far up on a timbered
bench, and they said that they wanted a council right away.

"It was a strange sight to see the Eagle sitting next to the Grouse;
the Rabbit sitting close to the Lynx; the Mouse right under the very
nose of the Bobcat, and the tiny Humming-bird talking to the Hawk in a
whisper, as though they had always been great friends. All about
OLD-man's fire they sat and whispered or talked in signs. Even the
Deer spoke to the Mountain-lion, and the Antelope told the Wolf that he
was glad to see him, because fear had made them all friends.

"The whispering and the sign-making stopped when OLD-man raised his
hand-like that" (here War Eagle raised his hand with the palm
outward)--"and asked them what was troubling them.

"The Bear spoke first, of course, and told how the water had made him
move his camp. He said all the animal-people were moving their homes,
and he was afraid they would be unable to find good camping-places,
because of the water. Then the Beaver spoke, because he is wise and
all the forest-people know it. He said his dams would not hold back
the water that came against them; that the whole world was a lake, and
that he thought they were on an island. He said he could live in the
water longer than most people, but that as far as he could see they
would all die except, perhaps, the fish-people, who stayed in the water
all the time, anyhow. He said he couldn't think of a thing to do--then
he sat down and the sign-talking and whispering commenced again.

"OLD-man smoked a long time--smoked and thought hard. Finally he
grabbed his magic stone axe, and began to sing his war-song. Then the
rest knew he had made up his mind and knew what he would do. Swow! he
struck a mighty pine-tree a blow, and it fell down. Swow! down went
another and another, until he had ten times ten of the longest,
straightest, and largest trees in all the world lying side by side
before him. Then OLD-man chopped off the limbs, and with the aid of
magic rolled the great logs tight together. With withes of willow that
he told the Beaver to cut for him, he bound the logs fast together
until they were all as one. It was a monstrous raft that OLD-man had
built, as