“One day her husband returned from hunting and visiting his traps and snares.  Among other animals that he had trapped was a beautiful marten.  He had caught it in what is called a dead-fall; that is, where a log is so arranged that when the animal reaches the bait he is directly under the log, which falls upon him the instant he pulls the bait.

“When the woman took up the marten which her husband had thrown at her feet she noticed that it was still quite warm, but she said nothing about it to her husband, who, picking up an ax and blanket, said that he was going off to visit his more distant traps and would not be back for some days.  Before he left he made her promise that she would not leave the wigwam until his return.

“The woman, as soon as she was sure that her husband was really gone, picked up the marten.  On examining it she was convinced that it was not dead, only knocked senseless by the falling log, so she rubbed it, and breathed into its nostrils, and then with a reed blew air into its lungs.

“Sure enough, the life was in it, and the first sign it gave was a big sneeze or two.  At this the woman wrapped it up in a warm covering and held it until it was well again.  The marten, of course, was very much frightened when it found itself in the hands of a woman.  It was about to struggle to get free, when the woman spoke to it in its own language.  At this it was very much surprised, and more so when the woman told it how she had given it back its life, and that now in return it must do what she desired.

“Any animal or human being would be willing to promise as much when its life had been thus restored to it.

“‘I will do anything I can for you,’ said the marten.

“‘I want you to go to your king marten,’ said the woman, ’and tell him that a beautiful lady has heard so many wonderful things about him that she is very anxious to have a visit from him.’

“This the marten promised to do, and it was not very long before the king marten came.  Of course he had to be very cautious, as he had been warned of the many who were watching the silly woman.

“Hardly, however, had he time to say much to her before the footsteps of her husband were heard outside.  The instant he opened the door of the wigwam the king marten ran out, and disappeared in the forest.

“‘What was that?’ asked the husband.

“’O, dear, that was the marten you trapped.  It must have come to life and escaped,’ said the woman, who thus cleverly saved herself and the king marten.

“The man was suspicious, but as the marten which he had trapped was not to be found he could not find fault with her, except to say that she ought to have skinned the marten soon after he had brought it in.

“The king marten, who was a very conceited fellow, had been quite struck with the beauty of the woman, and so, in spite of his narrow escape, he resolved to go and see her again.  By watching her husband’s departure he managed to have several brief visits, and at length became so infatuated with her that he tried to coax her to run away with him.