The Robin took the knife an’ the bear-claws an’ carried them to Wah-bee-noh, her father, who got twelve ponies from Kwa-Sind for them an’ added the ponies to his herd. An’ the heart of Wah-bee-noh danced the miser’s dance of gain in his bosom from mere gladness; an’ because he would have eight more ponies from Kwa-Sind, he sent the Robin back to steal the medicine robe when the Swallow should wake up.
The Robin went back, an’ finding the Swallow still asleep on the medicine robe, lay down by his side; an’ soon she too fell asleep, for the Robin was a very tired squaw since to be cunning an’ full of craft is hard work an’ soon wearies one.
When the Swallow woke up he missed his knife an’ bear-claws. Also, he remembered that Moh-Kwa had warned him for the lightness of his spirit to beware of a cunning squaw. When these thoughts came to the Swallow, an’ seeing the Robin still sleeping by his side, he knew well that she had stolen his knife an’ bear-claws.
Now, the Swallow fell into a great anger an’ thought an’ thought what he should do to make the Robin return the knife an’ bear-claws she had stolen. Without them the Sioux would laugh at him an’ despise him as before, an’ many would again call him Shau-goh-dah-wah, the Coward, an’ the name bit into the Swallow’s heart like a rattlesnake an’ poisoned it with much grief.
While the Swallow thought an’ the Robin still lay sleeping, a plan came to him; an’ with that, the Swallow seeing he was with the Robin lying on the medicine robe, sat up an’ wished that both himself an’ the Robin were in a far land of rocks an’ sand where a great pack of wolves lived.
Like the flash an’ the flight of an arrow, the Swallow with the Robin still asleep by his side, an’ with the medicine robe still beneath them on the ground, found himself in a desolate land of rocks an’ sands, an’ all about him came a band of wolves who yelped an’ showed their teeth with the hunger that gnawed their flanks.
Because the wolves yelped, the Robin waked up; an’ when she saw their white teeth shining with hunger she fell down from a big fear an’ cried an’ twisted one hand with the other, thinking Pau-guk, the Death, was on his way to get her. The Robin wept an’ turned to the Swallow an’ begged him to put her back before the lodge of Wah-bee-noh, her father.
But the Swallow, with the anger of him who is robbed, spoke hard words out of his mouth.
“Give me back the knife an’ the bear-claws you have stolen. You are a bad squaw, full of cunning an’ very crafty; but here I shall keep you an’ feed you—legs an’ arms an’ head an’ body—to my wolf-friends who yelp an’ show their teeth out yonder, unless I have my knife an’ bear-claws again.”
This brought more fear on the Robin, an’ she felt that the Swallow’s words were as a shout for Pau-guk, the Death, to make haste an’ claim her; yet her cunning was not stampeded but stood firm in her heart.