The Scranton chronicle. (Scranton, Miss.) 1897-19??, 1900-12-01
! The ThundererS !
81 ATHER says it looks like thun-

II
der. said little rosy-faced Ca
madam boy as he pranced down TO the
river bank and stood like a small en-
peror in the middle of the Indian snow
shoe makers.
"Your father knows all about some
things" said Ossawippi; but white
men cant read the clouds like Indians,
any more than Indians can read books
like white men. There won't be any
thunder to-day"
I'm sorry for that" said the little
Canadian. like to hear thunder. 1t
sounds almost as fine as menagerie.
But mothers frightened"
II don't know what menagerie is
said the Indian chief; "but the Thun-
derers are good, and nobody ought to
be frightened of them-only the bad
people, at any rate"
Tell me who the Thunderers are,
commanded Rennie.
And then Ossawippi told this story:
Once upon a time there were three
wyandot braves who set out to make
raid on the Cherokees; and the country
of the Cherokees was long way off.
far down in the south. just before they
got there one of the braves had his leg
broken by a tree falling on it.
"What shall we do?" said one of the
others. "By the Wyandot law we must
carry him home, but it's long way.
Let us kill him and say the bears took
him."
The other man said: mo, that would
be too wicked" But after they had
carried the broken man one day they
were both very tired. and they threw
him into dark pit, and went home and
said he had been eaten by bears. His
mother was a widow, and she had no
other son, so she cried very long while.
But her son wasn't so dead as she
thought him. When he fell on the bot
tom of the pit his broken leg hurt him,
and he cried aloud. Then he saw an old
man come out of hole in the side of
the pit, and the old man had long, white
hair sticking straight out all round his
head.
"What can do for you, my son?"
said the old man.
"You can mend my broken leg, IL
you're Clever enough said the Wyan-
dot.
"My medicine is great" said the old
man. Il could mend you If you were
broken in seven pieces. But what will
you give me?"
Anything you like" said the Indian,
van ~, nj nj AZ anna
''Then promise that you will live with
me, and hunt for me, and bring home
the game by yourself"
The young man promised, and the old
man bent down and touched the broken
leg with the hair of his head; and the
young man sprang up and danced as
If nothing had happened.
They lived together all the winter,
and the young man went out every day
and brought back deer and bears and
wild geese and fish, enough for weeks
big feasting; but after he had eaten his
supper and gone to sleep the old man
ate up all the rest, so that there was
not even bone to pick for breakfast.
One morning the young man went out,
and wandered far into the woods with
out seeing live thing. There was not
a sound to be heard except the dripping
of the trees, for spring was coming and
the sun was hot; and the snow was soft,
and all the trails were melted out. All
of a sudden he spied monstrous bear.
The bear saw him and began to climb
tree; but the young man strung his
bow hard and let fly an arrow, and the
bear tumDled down. The snow was
soft, but when the big bear fell ON 1t
there was a crash like the ice breaking
up in the river. The hunter pulled out
another arrow, and looked round to
see where the noice came from.
Put down your bow" said voice
right over his head, like the voice of
great chief
The hunter looked up, and there was
big. white bird perched on the top of
the tree; and the bird few down, and
when it touched the ground it was a
tall man with shining face, and
wrapped in blanket like soft, white
cloud
Don't be afraid" he said; 81 am the
Thunderer, the protector of men and
the enemy of their enemies. The old
man of the pit is not man at all,
and you must help me to kill him. As
long as he stays underground he is safe,
SO you must get him out"
II viii try" said the Indian. Then
he went back and said to the old man:
II have killed monstrous bear. as fat
as at the beginning OF winter, with
enough meat on him for month Of
feasting. But / can't drag him home
by myself, SO you must come and help
"Never!" said the old man, and his
hair bristled like bodkins. But in few
minutes he began to lick his lips, and
said: go ont and see If there's a speck
of cloud in the sky"
The young man went up to see. mot
4 speck," he called out. Then the old
man climbed up, and the two of them
tramped away through the woods. The
old man went so fast. though the snow
was soft and deep and he had no snow
Shoes, that the young man could hardly
keep up with him; and when they got
10 where the dead bear lay the old man
Threw the carcass over his shoulder as
it was only a muskrat and started
talking home again faster than ever.
he went, little speck of cloud APP
Jared in the sky, and got larger and
rger- The old man walked faster and
kter; but the cloud got so big and
xrf<r4I~ \ -