“Why don’t you get your grandmother to make you a new pair?”
“She’s old and blind and can’t make them any longer. That’s why I want you,” he answered.
“Oh, you’re fooling me. You aren’t speaking the truth.”
“Yes, I am. If you don’t believe—come with me now!”
The girl looked down; so did the youth. At last he said softly:
“Well, which is it? Shall I take up your bucket, or will you go with me?”
And she answered, still more softly: “I guess I’ll go with you!”
The girl’s aunt came down to the river, wondering what kept her niece so long. In the mud she found two pairs of moccasin tracks close together; at the edge of the water stood an empty keg.