By the time Running Fox had finished his task darkness had already fallen, and as he was a considerable distance from the river he determined to remain where he was until daylight. Then he suddenly thought of the wounded mother bear. He feared that she was too badly hurt to travel far away, and he had already seen enough of her temper to make him cautious about risking an encounter in the dark. He left the plateau, therefore, and spent the night farther down the ravine.
CHAPTER IV—IN THE GRIP OF THE RAPIDS
The sun was already above the tree-tops when Running Fox finally rejoined Spotted Deer at the river. They seated themselves on a fallen tree, and Running Fox showed his trophies and described his encounter with the bear. When Spotted Deer heard about the peculiar white patch on the bear’s shoulder he suggested that it might have been caused by a former arrow wound. Running Fox scoffed at the idea, however, and insisted that the mark had been placed there by Getanittowit.
“Yes, I believe that must be the way of it,” Spotted Deer agreed, finally.
Running Fox said that they must eat the heart of the bear to comply with the instructions which he had received in his dream. They kindled a tiny fire, and broiled the meat on a willow branch. Then, after Running Fox had sung several medicine-songs to pacify the spirit of the bear, the superstitious young warriors divided the precious trophy and ate it with solemn ceremony.
“Now I will tell you something,” said Spotted Deer. “After you went away I began to look around. I walked along beside the water. Pretty soon I heard a loud noise. Then I came to a place where the water goes very fast. It makes a great noise and jumps up and down. Yes, it looks very mad. I do not like that place. I believe the Bad Water Spirits live there. I have heard my father tell about them. He says that they are very fierce, and are always fighting down there under the water. Yes, that is what makes the commotion. My father has told me that when any one falls into such a place he is broken against the rocks, and eaten by those Bad Water Spirits.”
“Yes, that is so, I have heard about it,” declared Running Fox.
“Well, I stood there a long time watching that place,” continued Spotted Deer. “Then I went ahead. Pretty soon I saw a long strip of woods out there in the middle of the water. I heard many birds singing in the trees, and I stopped to listen. Then I saw some big rocks sticking out of the water. As I was looking at them I saw a very big fish jumping along between the rocks and the woods. Pretty soon I saw another. My eyes told me that it was Schawanammek, the great sturgeon. Well, I kept watching and I saw many of those big fish passing along. Then I saw how they came to be in that place. The water was very swift all around that strip of land, but between the rocks and the woods it was not so bad. Well, when I saw those big fish I wanted to spear some of them with my arrows. I said, ‘Hi, I will swim out to that place and kill some of those fish.’ Then I saw how swift the water was, and I heard the noise of that bad place below. Well, I began to think about it. I said, ‘I will wait until Running Fox comes back, and then we will talk about it.’ Now we will go and see it.”
“Yes, let us go,” proposed Running Fox, as his eyes lighted with enthusiasm.
As the lads hurried along the river they soon heard the sullen roar of the rapids, and their hearts bounded at the sound. Then they came upon the long stretch of tossing white-caps, and they stopped and looked with superstitious awe upon the wild tumult of the waters. It was a terrifying spectacle. As Spotted Deer had said, the river appeared to have been roused into a fury. It raged past in great surging waves that crashed against the rocks and sent drenching showers of spray high into the air. In the calmer reaches the water whirled down into seething black pools which sucked down into their dismal depths whatever the torrent tossed into them. The Delawares shuddered as they looked upon them, for they seemed like doors to that weird underwater world where the Bad Water Spirits were supposed to dwell.