ughs above him. All the music of the forest
lulled him to slumber, and he closed his eyes.

As the magician lay asleep, a great serpent came softly from the
thicket. It lifted high its shining crest and saw the man at the foot of
the tree. "I will kill him!" it hissed. "I could have eaten that cat
last night if he had not called, 'Watch, little cat, watch!' I will kill
him, I will kill him!"

Closer and closer the deadly serpent moved. The magician stirred in his
sleep. "Watch, little cat, watch!" he said softly. The serpent drew
back, but the magician's eyes were shut, and it went closer. It hissed
its war-cry. The sleeping magician did not move. The serpent was upon
him--no, far up in the high branches of the tree above his head the
little cat lay hidden. She had seen the serpent when it came from the
thicket.

[Illustration: SHE LEAPED DOWN UPON THE SERPENT]

She watched it as it went closer and closer to the sleeping man, and she
heard it hiss its war-cry. The little cat's body quivered with anger and
with fear, for she was so little and the serpent was so big. "The
magician was very good to me," she thought, and she leaped down upon the
serpent.

Oh, how angry the serpent was! It hissed, and the flames shot from its
eyes. It struck wildly at the brave little cat, but now the cat had no
fear. Again and again she leaped upon the serpent's head, and at last
the creature lay dead beside the sleeping man whom it had wished to
kill.

When the magician awoke, the little cat lay on the earth, and not far
away was the dead serpent. He knew at once what the cat had done, and he
said, "Little cat, what can I do to show you honor for your brave fight?
Your eyes are quick to see, and your ears are quick to hear. You can run
very swiftly. I know what I can do for you. You shall be known over the
earth as the friend of man, and you shall always have a home in the
home of man. And one thing more, little cat: you leaped from the high
tree to kill the deadly serpent, and now as long as you live, you shall
leap where you will, and you shall always fall upon your feet."

WHY THE SWALLOW'S TAIL IS FORKED.

This is the story of how the swallow's tail came to be forked.

One day the Great Spirit asked all the animals that he had made to come
to his lodge. Those that could fly came first: the robin, the bluebird,
the owl, the butterfly, the wasp, and the firefly. Behind them came the
chicken, fluttering its wings and tr