“Then Nanahboozhoo, who, as you know, could change himself into any form he liked, suddenly transformed himself so as to look exactly like Waubenoo.  So perfect was his resemblance to her, even to his dress, that her brothers and sisters could not have detected the disguise.  Indeed, the young ones could not help looking over to the spot where the real Waubenoo sat in the gloom with the blanket drawn over her head.  But they were Indian children, early trained to be quiet and do as they were told, and so they fully obeyed his commands.

“Of course, when Gray Wolf came into the wigwam he was completely deceived, and now, thinking that he had caught Waubenoo when there were no friendly Indians around, he at once began speaking very fiercely to her: 

“‘I have asked you for the last time,’ he said, ’and now I have come with my dog whip and I intend giving you a good thrashing and then driving you to my wigwam.  I intend to call you Atim, my dog, and like a dog I am going to thrash you.’

[Illustration:  “Gave him such a terrible beating.”]

“He then savagely raised the whip to strike, as he thought Waubenoo, but the blow never reached its victim, or even Nanahboozhoo in his disguise, at whom it was aimed, for Nanahboozhoo was so enraged that anybody in the shape of a man could be so cruel and selfish as to come and threaten a kind young woman like Waubenoo that he suddenly sprang at Gray Wolf, and seizing him by his scalp lock he dragged him out of the wigwam, and then wrenching the heavy whip out of his hand gave him such a terrible beating that he remembered it as long as he lived.  Then roughly throwing him to the ground, Nanahboozhoo, still in the disguise of Waubenoo, hurried into the wigwam and said to the real Waubenoo: 

“’Now, while he is weak and cowed, go out and talk sternly to him, and tell him that if he ever troubles you again it will be worse for him than this has been.’

“When Waubenoo came out her appearance so terrified Gray Wolf that he tried to get up and skulk away, weak as he was.  Waubenoo, glad that her enemy was so conquered that he would not be likely to trouble her much more, did as Nanahboozhoo requested her.

“Nanahboozhoo was heartily thanked by Waubenoo and the children for thus ridding them of this bad Indian, who had for so long made their lives miserable.  Ere he left Nanahboozhoo warned the children to say nothing about his coming, ‘for,’ said he, ’if Gray Wolf finds out who it was that thrashed him he may yet be troublesome.’

“Well would it have been for all if the children had remembered this advice,” added Souwanas.

“O tell us what they did, and what happened,” shouted Sagastao.

“Not to-day,” said the old man; “it is time you both were back at your lessons, and as I am going that way with some whitefish I will take you with me in my canoe.”

“But is that all about the story of Waubenoo and the children?” said Minnehaha.