"Then," continued the little old woman, "as soon as Red Head hears of this he will come for you in his own canoe, in which you must embark. On reaching the shore," she added, "you must consent to be his wife; and in the evening you are to induce him to take a walk out of the village. When you have reached a lonesome spot, use the first opportunity to cut off his head with the blade of grass."
The little old woman also gave Strong Desire advice about how he was to conduct himself to sustain his assumed character of a woman. But by this time his fear was so great that he could hardly consent to engage in an adventure attended with so much danger; only the recollection of his father's looks and reproaches for his want of courage decided him.
Early in the morning he left the lodge of the Little Old Woman Who Makes War, and it was clouded in a heavy brackish fog, so thick and heavy to breathe that he with difficulty made his way forth. When he turned to look hack, the lodge was gone.
Then Strong Desire took the hard beaten path to the banks of the lake and made for the water at a point directly opposite the Red Head's lodge.
He had not been long there, sauntering along the beach, when he displayed the glittering bowl by dipping water from the lake. Very soon a number of canoes came off from the island. The men admired his dress and were charmed with his beauty and almost with one voice they all made proposals of marriage. These Strong Desire promptly declined, in the manner of which the little old woman had warned him.
When this was reported to Red Head, he ordered his royal bark to be launched by his chosen men of the oar, and crossed over to see this wonderful girl. As they approached the shore, Strong Desire saw that the ribs of the sorcerer's canoe were formed of living rattlesnakes, whose heads pointed outward to guard him from his enemies. Being invited, he had no sooner stepped into the canoe, than they began to hiss and rattle furiously, which put him in a great fright.
However this rather added to than detracted from the supposed maiden's charms, and Red Head thought nothing of it, but spoke to the snakes, upon which they became pacified and quiet. Shortly afterward the boat reached the landing upon the island. The marriage took place immediately; and the bride made presents of various rich gifts which had been furnished her by the old witch who inhabited the cloudy lodge.
As they were sitting in the lodge, surrounded by the friends and relatives, the mother of the Red Head regarded the face of her new daughter-in-law for a long time with fixed attention. From this scrutiny she was convinced that this singular and hasty marriage boded no good to her son. She drew him aside, and disclosed to him her suspicions.
"This can be no maiden," said she. "She has the figure and manners of a woman, but the countenance, and more especially the eyes, are beyond a doubt those of a man."
The mother spoke truly, but Red Head rejected her suspicions and rebuked her severely for entertaining, such notions of her own daughter-in-law. She still urged her doubts, which so vexed the husband that he broke his pipe-stem in her face and called her an owl.