"That is because I do not want to lose one word of your good stories, Grandfather," murmurs the little maiden, with her pretty, upward glance and bashful smile.
"I have one for you to-night that ought to please you," he answers thoughtfully. "You know the shining Star people in the heavens above us—you have gazed upon them and doubtless dreamed that you were among them. We believe them to be a higher race than ours. Listen, then, to my story."
THE GIRL WHO MARRIED THE STAR
There were once two sisters who lived alone in an uninhabited place. This was a long time ago, when the tribes upon earth were few, and the animal people were friendly to man. The name of one of the girls was Earth, and the other was called Water.
All their food was brought to them by their animal friends. The Bears supplied them with nuts, berries and wild turnips, and the Bees brought combs dripping with honey. They ate no flesh, for that would be to take life. They dwelt in a lodge made of birch-bark, and their beds were mats woven of rushes.
One clear, summer night the girls lay awake upon their beds, looking up through the smoke-hole of their wigwam and telling one another all their thoughts.
"Sister," said the Earth, "I have seen a handsome young man in my dreams, and it seemed to me that he came from up yonder!"
"I too have seen a man in my dreams," replied her sister, "and he was a great brave."
"Do you not think these bright stars above us are the sky men of whom we have dreamed?" suggested the Earth.
"If that is true, sister, and it may be true," said the Water, "I choose that brightest Star for my husband!"