THE FIRE BRINGER[S]
BY MARY AUSTIN
They ranged together by wood and open swale, the boy who was to be called Fire Bringer, and the keen, gray dog of the wilderness, and saw the tribesmen catching fish in the creeks with their hands, and the women digging roots with sharp stones. This they did in Summer, and fared well; but when Winter came they ran nakedly in the snow, or huddled in caves of the rocks, and were very miserable. When the boy saw this he was very unhappy, and brooded over it until the Coyote noticed it.
“It is because my people suffer and have no way to escape the cold,” said the boy.
“I do not feel it,” said the Coyote.
“That is because of your coat of good fur, which my people have not, except they take it in the chase, and it is hard to come by.”
“Let them run about, then,” said the counselor, “and keep warm.”