The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1904-10-16

the stream TO wash them and then
nung them up to dry. They waited and
waited, but the clothes were as wet as
oeIore- Then the girls grew impatient
and called at the top Of their voices:
On north wind, please come quickly
and dry our clothes"
And the north wind heard and came
along with such power that he froze all
the streams and started a mass OF ice
rushing along toward the ocean. When
the Indians saw this they were fright
ened almost to death, and finding out
from the poor girls that they were the
cause Of the mischief, took them and
threw them right in the path OF the ice.
suddenly the ice stopped. and has re-
NAMED so always except when a few
little bits crumble Off with a loud noise
TO remind the Indians and make them
careful about calling the north wind to
do work for them.
III.
Way I'D in the great north. en- the
very edge OF the world, Where are the
long silences, the dark days and the
pale, strange midnight sun, there is
one thing more precious than anything
else. 1t is fire.
For where fire is. there life Is also;
and where fire is not, there Is death.
All this the big bear knows assweu as
anybody. But the bear has been the
sworn enemy Of the people ever since
there were any, and he watches and
waits with his mad, red little eyes to
see if he can do them mischief.
Once it so happened that all the fire.
In the nOrthland was in the care Of Just
two people, an old man and his little
son. They knew it's value, however, and
We're very careful to keep 1t always be-
tween their hands wherever they went.
They slept watch and watch about-ons
always awake and watching the pre-
CiOus flame.
One night when 1t was the boys turn
to sleep the old man grew very weary.
He was too old and could no longer
keep wide awake in the sleepy snow.
And at last he. too. slept quite soundly.
Then the great bear, who had Travelled
behind them for a long time. saw his
opportunity. He would steal up and
put out the fire. Then all these hated
people would freeze and die and the
north go back to the old quiet times be-
fore the people came. And that would
rejoice the bear folk nightly.
So the bear slipped up softly and put
ting out his enormous fiat paws scat
tered the fire far over the snow. And
the two men never wakened. Then the
bear went away, much pleased, and
told the bear folk that the bad people
were finished forever.
But he had counted without the birds.
who loved the people al much as the
bears hated them, and who also
watched. but only to help them. And
thus it happened that little bird who
had followed the men, flying after the
bear, was concealed among the branches
of the frs. AS the bear struck out the
fire he caught one last spark upon his
breast. and though II burned deep into
his breast feathers he kept 1t and flew
far with it TO the people in the south.
where he gave it to them and saved
the land to them to this day
And ever since the spark has been
glowing upon his bosom. And that the
people might remember and be glad for
him, they call him the robin redbreast.
III.
Once upon a time there was no moon
for a long. long time. And the white
people were afraid. They thought that
the Great Spirit, who had charge OF the
sky, was very angry and might never
put the moon out any more And they
were sorrOwful, for uD there they love
the soft moonlight very much.
And so the raven, who was friendly
to them and also very clever. offered to
flysup into the blue and try to see what
was the matter. He went, and was
gone a long while. but was unable To
find out anything except that the Great
Spirit kept the moon and the stars in a
box and that only he himself had the
key
Then the clever raven changed him
self into the most beautiful little boy
you could imagine and went to see the
Great Spirit. Here he soon made him
self at home, and by-and-by the Great
Spirit became as fond Of him as any
grandfather and gave him his own way
in everything-except when he asked
for the moon and star box 10 play with
But one day the sweet little raven boy
begged so hard and cried so loudly that
he got the coveted box. In the twink
bng of an eve he changed himself into
a raven again and flew off with the
moon and stars as hard as he could.
He kept dropping the STAYS all along
the way. but the moon was so big he
could hardly manage it, So he began
to bite of bits of it with his sharp
beak and let the bits drop into the
water where they lay shining.
And If you do not believe this story.
go and look at the water any moonlight
night