said nothing, but
he looked so wise that all the birds cried, "Let us ask the owl to
choose for us."

"The bird that flies highest should be our king," said the owl with a
wiser look than before, and the others said, "Yes, we will choose the
bird that flies highest."

The wren is very small, but she cried even more eagerly than the others,
"Let us choose the bird that flies highest," for she said to herself,
"They think the owl is wise, but I am wiser than he, and I know which
bird can fly highest."

Then the birds tried their wings. They flew high, high up above the
earth, but one by one they had to come back to their homes. It was soon
seen which could fly highest, for when all the others had come back,
there was the eagle rising higher and higher.

"The eagle is our king," cried the birds on the earth, and the eagle
gave a loud cry of happiness. But look! A little bird had been hidden in
the feathers on the eagle's back, and when the eagle had gone as high as
he could, the wren flew up from his back still higher.

"Now which bird is king?" cried the wren. "The one that flew highest
should be king, and I flew highest."

The eagle was angry, but not a word did he say, and the two birds came
down to the earth together.

"I am the king," said the wren, "for I flew higher than the eagle." The
other birds did not know which of the two to choose. At last they went
to the oak-tree and asked the owl. He looked to the east, the west, the
south, and the north, and then he said, "The wren did not fly at all,
for she was carried on the eagle's back. The eagle is king, for he not
only flew highest, but carried the wren on his back."

"Good, good!" cried the other birds. "The owl is the wisest bird that
flies. We will do as he says, and the eagle shall be our king." The wren
crept away. She thought she was wise before, but now she is really wise,
for she always flies close to the earth, and never tries to do what she
cannot.

WHY THE HOOFS OF THE DEER ARE SPLIT.

The manito of the Indians taught them how to do many things. He told
them how to build wigwams, and how to hunt and to fish. He showed them
how to make jars in which to keep food and water. When little children
came to be with them, it was the manito who said, "See, this is the way
to make soft, warm cradles for the babies."

The good spirit often comes down from his happy home in the sky to watch
the Indians at their work. When each man does as well