est, across streams, and over the
prairie. At nightfall he reached a town where many Indians lived. The
chief made him welcome and let him stay the night. In the morning, he
set out once more, and by night he had reached a second town. He
stayed there till morning and then continued his race.

By the next night, he had reached a lodge where a magician lived. The
old man treated him very kindly. He made him sit down by the fire.
Then he spoke a few words, and a metal pot with legs walked out and
stood by the fire. He spoke a few more words and put one grain of corn
and one berry into the pot. At once it became full of porridge. He
told Odjibaa to eat this, and when he had done so, the pot became full
again. It continued to do this until Odjibaa had eaten all he could.
Then the magician told the hunter to lie down and rest, and in the
morning he said to him:

"My grandchild, you are in search of the Red Swan. Be brave and travel
on, and at last you will be successful. When you near the end, you
will come to a lodge of another magician, and he will tell you what to
do."

Odjibaa thanked the old man, and went once more on his way.

When he had gone some distance, he shot an arrow ahead of him and it
fell behind him, so he knew that he was still going his best. He went
on for some days and at last saw the lodge of the magician. This
second old man was as kind as the first and treated him in much the
same way. He gave him food from a magic kettle exactly like the first,
and then bade him stay the night. Then in the morning he said to him:

"My grandchild, you are following the Red Swan. Many a hunter has done
the same and has never returned. For she is the sister of a great
chief. He once had a wampum cap which was fastened to his scalp. One
day some warriors came and told him that the daughter of their chief
was very sick. She said the only thing that would cure her was this
cap of wampum and that the sight of it would make her better at once.
The chief did not like to lend his cap, for if he took it off, his head
would be bare and bloody. But he thought again of the sick girl and at
last gave it to the warriors.

"That is many years ago, but they have not returned the cap yet. They
were cheats and are keeping it to make fun of it. They carry it from
one village to another to dance around it, and at every mean thing they
say, the old man groans with pain. Many young men have tried to get it
fo