"There was a lot of work for him to do, east and west, south and north. He tossed the branches of the trees and made 'em crack, and he made the waves in the ocean turn somersaults, and blew the wooden ships across the sea, and chased the cloud-ships across the sky.
"And he had a lot of little chores too, like drying the clothes on Mondays, and waving the flags on Fourth of July, and sailing little boy's kites high in the air.
"When the King of the Winds was a young fellow, it was all great fun. But after a while the trees grew bigger and bigger, and the ships taller and taller, and there were so many clouds that he got very tired. He was getting pretty old and he ached in all of his bones.
"So he said to himself, said he:
"'I'll let the kiddies do the work, and rest for a spell in my cave on the mountains.'
"There were four of 'em—two boys and two girls—and each had a name, of course. Southwind and Westwind were the girls, Eastwind and Northwind the boys, two strapping big fellows.
"So he called his children together and sat in the door of his cave.
"First he took a big pinch o' snuff. That was a very bad habit folks had in those days.
"Kerchoo! he sneezed, and blew two big clouds out of the sky.
"Kerchoo!!! he sneezed again, and turned upside down a whole fleet of ships in the ocean.