“Be patient, I will come in two days and bring you food.”
The sixth day came and the little boy lay upon the mat white and still.
On the seventh, when the chief came with the sun’s first rays, his son was not in the lodge nor about it.
Above the door sat a bird with brown coat and red breast, which until this time had been unknown to man.
Sadly the chief listened to the bird and understood its message.
“Mourn me not, great chief,” it sang. “I was once your son.
“I am happy now and free.
“I am the friend of man and shall always live near him and be his companion.
“I shall bring the tidings of spring.
“When the maple buds shoot and the wild flowers come, every child in the land shall know my voice.