But the snow was very deep and Antler could scarcely walk. She was faint from hunger and cold. For a while she struggled through the drifts, but soon her strength failed, and she sank down in the snow.
As Antler lay in the deep drifts, she seemed powerless to move. The thought of the hungry children, however, made her turn to the gods. Then the branches of spruce trees seemed to urge her on.
And so Antler took courage and grasping a strong branch of a friendly spruce struggled through the deep snow. She stepped upon the partly buried branches and they helped her on her way.
A bison, floundering in a drift, filled her heart with hope. But when she started toward the bison, Antler sank down once more into the drifts. So again she turned to the friendly trees, and again she reached out to them for aid. And she broke branches from the trees and bound them to her feet.
A snowshoe.
Starting once more, Antler walked as if on winged feet. She ran over the deep drifts. And since she could hunt as well as the men, she soon had plenty of meat.
As Antler was strapping her load upon her back, she heard a familiar voice. Quickly she turned, and her heart beat fast as she listened to hear it again. And seeing the men struggling through the drifts, she knelt and gave thanks to the gods.
Soon Antler arose and laid down her load; and breaking a handful of branches, she hurried over the drifts and met the Cave-men.
When the men saw Antler gliding over the drifts they wondered if it was one of the gods. Not until Antler spoke were they really sure it was she. And not until she showed them how to tie the branches to their feet did they understand what she had done. And even then they did not know that Antler had invented the snowshoe. Many people worked upon snowshoes before fine snowshoes were made. For when people heard what Antler had done, they tried different ways for themselves.