Suddenly again the youngest said, "Your father is coming, I must leave."
He again exacted a promise of secresy, and went back to his tree. The eldest took his seat near the fire.
When the hunter came in he was surprised to see the ashes scattered about. "Why, my son," he said, "you must have played very hard to day to raise such a dust all alone."
"Yes," the boy answered, "I was very lonesome, and I ran round and round—that is the cause of it."
The next day the hunter made ready for the chase as usual. The boy said, "Father, try and hunt all day, and see what you can kill."
He had no sooner set out than the boy called his friend, and they played and chased each other round the lodge. They had great delight in each other's company, and made merry by the hour. The hunter was again returning, and came to a rising ground, which caught the winds as they passed, and he heard his son laughing and making a noise, but the sounds as they reached him on the hill-top, seemed as if they arose from two persons playing.
At the same time the younger boy stopped, and after saying "Your father is coming," he stole away, under cover of the high grass, to his hollow tree, which was not far off.
The hunter, on entering, found his son sitting by the fire, very quiet and unconcerned, although he saw that all the articles of the lodge were lying thrown about in all directions.
"Why, my son," he said "you must play very hard every day; and what is it that you do, all alone, to throw the lodge in such confusion?"
The boy again had his excuse. "Father," he answered, "I play in this manner: I chase and drag my blanket around the lodge, and that is the reason you see the ashes spread about."