"No one can play ball as I," he said. "I can catch the swiftest ball that can be thrown. I can throw the ball to the sky. I can run faster than the deer."
Spread Feather boasted so loudly that a rabbit heard him. The rabbit came out of the bushes and sat up on his hind legs. He watched Spread Feather play, and listened to his boasting.
Soon a strange boy was standing where the rabbit had sat.
The stranger said to Spread Feather, "I would like to play ball with you."
"Come on, then!" taunted the boastful boy. "Spread Feather will show the strange ball player how to catch a ball."
They began to play.
The stranger could run like a deer. His balls were so swift and so curved that Spread Feather could not see them. He could not catch one. They seemed to come from the sky.
At last one ball hit Spread Feather on the mouth. He fell to the ground. His face was red with anger, and his lips were red with blood.