out any plan
for dealing with their cruel enemies.

* * * * *

"The deer were the next to hold a council. Each one had some story to
tell about the cruelty of men. Each one had lost his father or his
mother, his wife or his children, his brother or his sister.

"After much talk, their chief, Little Deer, spoke. 'It is a law,' said
he, 'among all the kindreds that each may kill to supply his needs. The
men folk need our flesh to eat and our skins for clothing.

[Illustration]

"'But there is another law. It is that no one shall kill cruelly or
needlessly. Upon such as do so, let us send pains and aches. Let us make
their joints swell and become stiff, so that they cannot follow us and
kill us. Besides, let us make another law, that when a hunter kills one
of the deer family, he must pray to the spirit of the deer for pardon.
If he has killed to supply his needs and without cruelty, he shall be
pardoned. If not, he shall become a helpless cripple.'

"The deer people all agreed to this and sent word to the nearest Indian
village, to tell the hunters about the new law.

"Since that time every Indian hunter is careful to pray to the spirit of
the deer which he has killed.

* * * * *

"Next the fishes and the snakes held a council. Each one had complaints
to make against the cruelty of men. After much talk, A-tos-sa the chief
of the snakes spoke.

"'We of the snake kindred,' said he, 'will afflict men with diseases of
their nerves. They shall tremble and shake when there is nothing to be
afraid of. And when they draw the bow-strings, their arrows shall go
wide of the mark by reason of the unsteadiness of eye and hand. And we
will send upon them in their sleep evil dreams. The ghosts of the snakes
which they have needlessly killed shall twine about them, with fearful
fangs, ready to pierce their flesh, and the cold sweat of terror shall
ooze from their skin, and they shall awake with cries and tremblings.'

"After him the chief of the fishes spoke.

"'We,' said he, 'will afflict men with diseases of the stomach. In their
sleep, they shall dream of eating raw or decayed fish and their
appetites shall pass from them.'

"These plans were agreed upon, and the council of the fishes and the
snakes broke up.

* * * * *

"After this, the smaller animals, the birds and the insects, gathered
themselves together in a common cou