An’ at that, Wah-wah-tah-see, an’ Sub-bee-kah-shee, an’ Sug-gee-mah stood very straight an’ high, for being little men it made them proud because so big a bear as Moh-Kwa had called them to be his help.
“To you, Sub-bee-kah-shee,” said Moh-Kwa, turning to the Spider, “I leave Kwa-Sind; to you, Wah-wah-tah-see, the Firefly, falls the honor of slaying Wah-bee-noh, the bad medicine man; while unto you, Sug-gee-mah descends the hardest task, for you must fight a great battle with Nee-pah-win, the Sleep.”
Moh-Kwa gave his orders to his three friends; an’ with that Sub-bee-kah-shee, crept to the side of Kwa-Sind where he slept an’ bit him on the cheek; an’ Kwa-Sind turned first gray an’ then black with the spider’s venom, an’ then died in the hands of Pau-guk, the Death, who had followed the Spider to Kwa-Sind’s lodge.
While this was going forward, Wah-wah-tah-see, the Firefly, came as swift as wing could carry to the lodge where Wah-bee-noh was asleep rolled up in a bear-skin. Wah-bee-noh was happy, for with the big medicine robe which the Robin had brought him, he already had bought the eight further ponies from Kwa-Sind an’ they then grazed in Wah-bee-noh’s herd. As Wah-bee-noh laughed in his sleep because he dreamed of the twenty ponies he had earned from Kwa-Sind, the Firefly stooped an’ stung him inside his mouth. An’ so perished Wah-bee-noh in a flame of fever, for the poison of Wah-wah-tah-see, the Firefly, burns one to death like live coals.
Sug-gee-mah, the Mosquito, found Nee-pah-win, the Sleep, holding the Robin fast. But Sug-gee-mah was stout, an’ he stooped an’ stung the Sleep so hard he let go of the Robin an’ stood up to fight.
All night an’ all day an’ all night, an’ yet many days an’ nights, did Sug-gee-mah, the ‘bold Mosquito, an’ Nee-pah-win, the Sleep, fight for the Robin. An’ whenever Nee-pah-win, the Sleep, would take the Robin in his arms, ‘Sug-gee-mah, the Mosquito, would strike him with his little lance. For many days an’ nights did Sug-gee-mah, the Mosquito, hold Nee-pah-win, the Sleep, at bay; an’ in the end the Robin turned wild an’ crazy, for unless Nee-pah-win, the Sleep, takes each man an’ woman in his arms when the sun goes down it is as if they were bitten by the evil polecats who are rabid; an’ the men an’ women who are not held in the arms of Nee-pah-win go mad an’ rave like starved wolves till they die. An’ thus it was with the Robin. After many days an’ nights, Pau-guk, the Death, came for her also, an’ those three who had done evil to the Swallow were punished.
Moh-Kwa, collecting the knife, the bear-claws an’ the big medicine robe from the lodge of Kwa-Sind, gave them to the Swallow again. This time the Swallow stood better guard, an’ no squaw, however cunning, might make a fool of him—though many tried—so he kept his knife, the bear-claws, an’ the big medicine robe these many years while he lived.