Old Man went to the fire, and looked at the red willow sticks where the roasted prairie-dogs had been, and when he saw them, and thought how his food was all gone, it made him angry at his nose.  He said, “You fool, why did you not wake me?” He took the willow sticks and thrust them in the coals, and when they had caught fire he burnt his nose.  This hurt, and he ran up on a hill and held his nose to the wind, and called to the wind to blow hard and cool him.  A hard wind came, so hard that it blew him off the hill and away down to Birch Creek.  As he was flying along he caught at the weeds and brush to stop himself, but nothing was strong enough to hold him.  At last he grasped a birch tree.  He held fast, and it did not give way.  Although the wind whipped him about, this way and that, and tumbled him up and down, the tree held him.  He kept calling to the wind to blow more softly, and at last it listened to him and went down.

Then he said, “This is a beautiful tree.  It has saved me from being blown away and knocked all to pieces.  I will make it pretty, and it shall always be like that.”  So he gashed the bark across with his stone knife, as you see the marks to-day.

THE RED-EYED DUCK

Once, long ago, Old Man was travelling north along a river.  He carried a great pack on his back.  After a time he came to a place where the river spread out and the water was quiet, and here many ducks were swimming about.  Old Man did not look at the ducks, and kept travelling along; but presently some of the ducks saw him and looked at him and said to each other, “Who is that going along there with a pack on his back?” One duck said to the others, “That must be Old Man.”

The duck that knew him called out, saying, “Hi, Old Man, where are you going?”

“I am going on farther,” replied Old Man, “I have been sent for.”

“What have you got in your pack?” said the duck.

“Those are my songs,” answered Old Man.  “Some people have asked me to come and sing for them.”

“Stop for a while and sing for us,” said the duck, “and we can have a dance.”

“No,” said Old Man, “I am in a hurry; I cannot stop now.”

The duck kept persuading him to stop, and when it had asked him the fourth time, Old Man stopped and said to the ducks, “Well, I will stop for a little while and sing for you, and you can dance.”

So the ducks all came out on the bank and stood in a circle, and Old Man began to sing.  He sang one song, and then said, “Now, this next song is a medicine song, and while you dance you must keep your eyes shut.  No one must look.  If any one opens his eyes and looks, his eyes will turn red.”

The ducks closed their eyes and Old Man began to sing, and they danced around; but Old Man took a stick, and every time one of them passed him, he knocked it on the head and threw it into the circle.