over by the ridge. The captain' of the animals
was the Bear, who was so strong and heavy that he could pull down
anyone who got in his way. All along the road to the ball ground
he was tossing up great logs to show his strength and boasting of
what he would do to the birds when the game began. The Terrapin,
too — not the little one we have now, but the great original Terrapin —
was with the animals. His shell was so hard that the heaviest blows
could not hurt him, and he kept rising up on his hind legs and drop-
ping heavily again to the ground, bragging that this was the way he
would crush any bird that tried to take the ball from him. Then
there was the Deer, who couldoutrun every other animal. Alto-
gether it was a tine company.
The birds had the Eagle for their captain, with the Hawk and the
great Tla'nuwa, all swift and strong of flight, but still they were a
little afraid of the animals. The dance was over and they were all
pruning their feathers up in the trees and waiting for the captain to
give the word when here came two little things hardly larger than
field mice climbing up the tree in which sat perched the bird captain.
At last they reached the top, and creeping along the limb to where
the Eagle captain sat they asked to be allowed to join in the game.
The captain looked at them, and seeing that they were four-footed, he
asked why they did not go to the animals, where they belonged.