“This suggestion met with the favor of the tribes, and a large party of the best runners was selected, and being well supplied with rich presents and pipes of peace they started off to find the Southland and to obtain abundance of the sugar.  Some weeks passed by before word was heard from them, and the news was very bad.  Fierce wars had broken out among the tribes that lived between ours and those who dwelt in that far South.  Our Indians had to fight for their lives.  Many of them were killed, others were badly wounded, and of the large company that started out not more than half ever returned to their homes.  The expedition was a complete failure.

“Still there was the memory of the sugar among them, and it happened that one day in the council somebody said: 

“‘Why not send to Nanahboozhoo?’

“Good!” shouted Minnehaha; “that is just what I thought they would do.”

“Well, hold on,” said her more matter-of-fact brother; “just as like as not Nanahboozhoo would give them salt instead of sugar, if he were in one of his tantrums.”

Souwanas was not displeased at this interruption on the part of the children, and gladly availed himself of the opportunity thus offered to once more help himself to the sweets.

Earnestly appealing to Souwanas, Minnehaha, who always looked on the bright side of things, and who had a quick intuition quite beyond her years, said: 

“It could not be a sweet story if Nanahboozhoo gave them salt instead of sugar; could it, Souwanas?”

The old man, as soon as his mouth was sufficiently emptied to resume his story, amused by the earnestness with which the child appealed to him, replied with the words, “Tapwa, tapwa!” (Verily, verily!)

Sagastao, however, unwilling to give in, retorted, “O ‘tapwa, tapwa’ doesn’t mean anything, anyway.”

Souwanas only laughed at this criticism, and proceeded with his story.

[Illustration:  Across a single log at a dizzy height.]

“So it was decided to send a deputation to Nanahboozhoo to tell him of the wish of the tribes to have Se-se-pask-wut (sugar), as had the tribes of the Southland.

“The deputation who started off to find Nanahboozhoo had a great deal of difficulty in finding him.  It seems that a great strife had arisen between Nanahboozhoo and some of the underground Muche Munedoos—­bad spirits, sometimes called the Ana-mak-quin—­who had determined to kill Nokomis, the grandmother of Nanahboozhoo, because of their spiteful hatred of Nanahboozhoo, whom they knew they could not kill because he had supernatural powers.

“Nanahboozhoo had, as usual, been playing some of his pranks on them, and that was why they were determined to kill Nokomis.”

“What were some of the tricks that Nanahboozhoo had been up to this time?” asked Sagastao.

“It would take me too long to tell you now,” replied Souwanas.

“Nanahboozhoo dearly loved his grandmother, although he was often giving her great frights, just as other grandsons sometimes do.  So when he heard of what the Muche Munedoos were threatening he took up his grandmother on his strong back and carried her far away and made for her a tent of maples in a great forest among the mountains.  The only access to it was across a single log at a dizzy height over a wild rushing river.