But no one offered to lead the way. In a little while one of them pointed to the pond and said, "The chief lives there."
The runner went quickly to the edge of the pond and there, lying in the mud, he saw a monster whose bloated body of giant size was half hidden. His great yellow eyes bulged out like knots on a tree-trunk; his mouth reached almost from ear to ear. At the approach of the Indian this creature aroused himself and stretched out his great broad skinny feet.
In a hoarse frog-like voice the monster chief croaked, "What do you want? What do you want?"
"I came to see why the brook which brought our village water has dried up. It is because you have built a dam to stop its course," said the runner.
"What do I care?" lazily replied the chief. "What do I care?"
"We cannot live without the water from our brook," pleaded the Indian.
"What do I care?" again croaked the monster. "If you want water go somewhere else! Go somewhere else!"
"My people are dying from thirst! No one may rightfully keep for his own use the water from a mountain stream. The Great Spirit sent the brook to our village!" said the runner earnestly.
The monster rolled his great yellow eyes for several minutes. Then he said, "Shoot a hole in the wall of the dam with one of your arrows. Your people may have as much water as will flow through the arrow hole."
Very swiftly the runner sped an arrow. It pierced the wall and a slender stream of water trickled through the opening.