Squat-by-the-fire wrinkled her forehead and puffed hard at her pipe, but did not answer. Flying Plover waited for a minute, and then asked, "Are animals afraid of fire now?"
His grandmother nodded her head.
"But dogs are not afraid of it. Dogs like to lie by the fire, all day and all night," said the boy.
"Dogs were not always fond of fire. When they were wild—before they had been tamed by man—they did not like it at all," replied the old woman.
She puffed very fiercely at her pipe. "But you must not ask me any more questions now," she said. "I must boil the medicine for Red Cloud's baby again. It is a very great medicine and has to be boiled five times, in all, and let cool after each boiling. So you must not disturb me, little son of a chief. Carve at your caribou again, if the snow is still falling, and I will tell you another story to-night, if you are a good boy."
VI
WHY OLD KING WALRUS WENT AWAY
FROM THE MOUNTAINEERS' COUNTRY
Flying Plover was a good boy. He carved at the stubborn block of wood until it looked quite unlike a block of wood and had four legs, like a caribou. Then he whittled away at two arrows, and mended one of his snowshoes. He did not once disturb his grandmother at her medicine-making; so after the evening meal the old woman said that, as he had behaved himself so well and worked so busily, she would tell him another story.
"I want to know why all the animals are smaller now than they used to be," said the boy. "I want to know how that happened and when—and who did it."
"Easy, easy!" cried Squat-by-the-fire. "You go too fast with your 'want to know this' and your 'want to know that.' Stories are not told by the answering of questions. You will hear about the changing of the animals later—but to-night I am going to tell you why old King Walrus went back to his own country."