“Yesterday I arrived at the secret lake with the only things that I had been able to find and bring with me from the enemy camp—my knife, my bow, and my headdress which they had taken from me when they captured me. Suddenly I saw a Seneca boy fishing. I approached and spoke with him. Last night I slept in the forest until it was late and dark enough to enter our village. The rest of the story you know. But first, before the celebration, I would like to see that young lad I spoke to at the lakeside, the young brave who is called Flying Owl.”
Flying Owl rose and stepped forward to face the Chief.
“You were the first of my people to see me, young brave, and it was the sight of you, fishing in the lake, which first made me feel that I was really home. You are a good fisherman and a bright lad, and I am sure you will become a great warrior. Because you were the first and because you appeared so brave in the face of what might have been great danger, I wish to reward you. Here is the bow which I carried all through my homeward trip. Keep it and remember the Seneca Chief you spoke to the day the fish were biting so well and the sun was warm—the day that happiness once again filled that Chief’s heart.”
“Thank you, Bear Claw,” the boy replied proudly. “May I hope that some day my father and I may go fishing with you at the secret lake?”
Everyone laughed and, most of all, Bear Claw. There was joy in the village for their leader had returned, and a boy had made him welcome.
Transcriber’s Notes
- Copyright notice provided as in the original—this e-text is public domain in the country of publication.
- Silently corrected palpable typos; left non-standard (or amusing) spellings and dialect unchanged.
- In the text versions, delimited italics text in _underscores_ (the HTML version reproduces the font form of the printed book.)