“Atiki!” exclaimed the grandmother; “these beasts that cause meditation!” Then she climbed the terrace and watched and watched and watched; but the boys liked nothing better than to worry their old grandmother, so they ran up Master Cañon and into the woods and so across to Rain-pond Basin, leaving the old woman to look as she would.
“Uhh!” groaned the old woman; “they are down among the rocks playing. Fine warriors, they!” and with this she went back to her cooking.
By-and-by the boys came to the edge of the basin where the pod plant grew. Sure enough, there was the Rainbow-worm, eating leaves as though he were dying of hunger—a great fat fellow, as big as the boys themselves; for long, long ago, in the days I tell you of, the Rainbow-worm was much bigger than he is now.
“Hold on,” said the younger brother. “Let’s frighten the old fellow.”
So they sneaked up until they were close to the grandfather, and then they began to tickle him with a stalk. Amiwili—that was his name—twitched his skin and bit away faster and faster at the leaves, until Áhaiyúta shouted at the top of his voice, “Ha-u-thla!” which made the old man jump and turn back so quickly that he would have broken his back had he a back-bone.
“Shoma!” he exclaimed. “It’s my grandchildren, is it? I am old and a little deaf, and you frightened me, my boys.”
“Did we frighten you, grandfather? That’s too bad. Well, never mind; we’ve come to you for advice.”
“What’s that, my grandchildren?” looking out of his yellow eyes as though he were very wise, and standing up on his head and tail as though they had been two feet.
“Why, you see,” said the boys, “we had a big drove of Turkeys, and we let them out to feed yesterday, but the fools got too near Háwikuh and the people there killed many, many of them; so we have decided to get back our winnings and even the game with them, the shameless beasts!”
“Ah ha!” exclaimed old Amiwili. “Very well!” and he lay down on his belly and lifted his head into the air like a man resting on his elbows. “Ah ha!” said he, with a wag of his head and a squint of his goggle. “Ah ha! Very well! I’ll show them that they are not to treat my grandchildren like that. I’m a warrior, every direction of me—and there are a great many directions when I get angry, now, I can tell you! I’m just made to use up life,” said he, with another swagger of his head.