22. THE BOY WHO TURNED INTO A SNAKE.
Idiot boy and son of chief go on war-path. They have to return through want of food, and come to water-serpent. It is so big they can not get around it, and idiot proposes to burn it. Serpent burns in two. Idiot eats of serpent meat and his body gradually becomes colored red and blue. By fourth day his legs are grown together and become snake’s tail. Other boy carries him to lake, where fishes object to him, and finally they come to the Missouri River. He rests in middle of river and people by giving him presents cross over without danger of drowning.