And now the stranger laughed as he boasted of greater power. "When I shake my curling locks, I call the leaves back on the branches. The plants come out of the brown earth and bring forth their flowers and fruit."
Old Winter frowned. "I speak, and the birds fly away. I command, and the wild beasts obey me. They hide in caves. They burrow in the earth. They do not venture to look upon my face!"
"I call back the birds you have sent away," replied the stranger. "They hear my voice and return to their nesting places. I speak, and the beasts leave their shelters and fill the forests and the plains with life."
"I am the king," shouted Winter, "for even man obeys me. When I send the tempest, the mightiest warriors turn and flee. They close the doors of their lodges, and I imprison them with drifts of snow."
"I also have power over man," replied the stranger. "My name is Spring. I melt your snow and open the wigwam doors. All men rejoice, and they come forth to hunt and feast and dance."
The night waned, and the sun came from his lodge like a painted warrior. The air grew warm and pleasant, and the bluebird and the robin sang on the lodge poles.
But the giant! What was taking place? He was growing smaller. Now he was no larger than a common man. His war bonnet was no longer white, but old and gray, and its feathers were falling one by one.
Still the giant dwindled. Smaller and smaller he grew. Tears flowed from his eyes. He vanished from sight, and fled away with a noise like the rush of waters. Far to the north he flew where the snow never melts.
Thus did Spring, the beautiful youth, conquer the great and mighty Winter.