Come and I'll dream, as you guide me along;
Come and I'll pay you, my bug, with a song.
As the boy-man chanted this call, the fire-flies came into the lodge, first one by one, then in couples, till at last, swarming in little armies, they lighted the lodge with a thousand sparkling lamps, just as the stars were lighting the mighty hollow of the sky without.
The faces of the sister and brother shone upon each other from their opposite sides of the lodge with a kindly gleam of mutual trustfulness; and never more from that hour did a doubt of each other darken their little household.
XXIV. WUNZH, THE FATHER OF INDIAN CORN
IN time past—we cannot tell exactly how many, many years ago—a poor Indian was living with his wife and children in a beautiful part of the country. He was not only poor, but he had the misfortune to be inexpert in procuring food for his family, and his children were all too young to give him any assistance.
Although of a lowly condition and straitened in his circumstances, he was a man of kind and contented disposition. He was always thankful to the Great Spirit for everything he received. He even stood in the door of his lodge to bless the birds that flew past in the summer evenings; although, if he had been of a complaining temper, he might have repined that they were not rather spread upon the table for his evening meal.
The same gracious and sweet disposition was inherited by his eldest son, who had now arrived at the proper age to undertake the ceremony of the fast to learn what kind of a spirit would be his guide and guardian through life.