Ice still lay thick upon the lake, but on the shallower waters it had begun to melt under the increasing warmth of the sun.
"Can they see us?" asked Hawk Eye as Raven Wing, who was in the lead, stopped at the further end of the grove.
"No. We have yet time to run across this open space," answered the younger boy.
On reaching a thicket of willows, the boys halted; then crept in to almost the edge of a frozen stretch of swamp.
"Here they come!" whispered Raven Wing. As the flock settled on the marshland, Hawk Eye fitted an arrow to his bow. "I'll take the one close to the leader," he said. Almost simultaneously Raven Wing let fly his arrow. The feathered ash wood shafts sped to their marks and two birds fluttered and fell to earth. Alarmed at the fall of their comrades, the flock rose in the air, but before they could get beyond arrow range, two more birds dropped to earth.
"We've outwitted Slow Dog," chuckled Hawk Eye, as he made his way over the half-frozen ground to pick up his birds.
"He must return empty-handed," laughed Raven Wing, retrieving his arrows from the birds he had slain. "What do you intend to do with your first kill?" he asked.
"Give it to Old Smoky Wolf," answered Hawk Eye. "The goose first slain in the Spring is always made the occasion for a feast."
"I will give mine to my stepfather, Black Eagle," said Raven Wing. "He will be our chief when Old Smoky Wolf takes the trail of departed warriors."
"Because you have outwitted him, Slow Dog will now bear another grudge against you," went on Hawk Eye.