Although his mornings and evenings were thus occupied, Rene had his afternoons to himself, and these he spent in company with his friend Has-se, who instructed him in the mysteries of Indian woodcraft.  Now it happened that while Has-se was a merry, lovable lad, he had one bitter enemy in the village.  This was a young man somewhat older than himself, named Chitta, which means the snake.  Their quarrel was one of long standing, and nobody seemed to know how it had begun; but everybody said that Chitta was such a cross, ugly fellow that he must needs quarrel with somebody, and had chosen Has-se for an enemy because everybody else loved him.

One afternoon Has-se asked Rene to go out on the river with him in his canoe, as he had that to tell him which he did not wish to run any risk of being overheard by others.  Rene willingly agreed to go with him, and taking his cross-bow and a couple of steel-tipped bolts, he seated himself in the bow of the light craft, which Has-se paddled from the stern.  Going for some distance down the river, they turned into a small stream from the banks of which huge, moss-hung oaks and rustling palm-trees cast a pleasant shade over the dark waters.  Here the canoe was allowed to drift while Has-se unburdened his mind to his friend.

It seemed that the day of the Ripe Corn Dance, the great feast day of his tribe, was set for that of the next full moon.  On this day there was to be a series of contests among the lads of the village to decide which of them was most worthy to become Bow-bearer to Micco, their chief and his father.  This was considered a most honorable position to occupy, and he who succeeded in winning it and filling it satisfactorily for a year was, at the expiration of that time, granted all the privileges of a warrior.  The contests were to be in shooting with bows and arrows, hurling the javelin, running, and wrestling.  Has-se had set his heart upon obtaining this position, and had long been in training for the contests.  His most dreaded rival was Chitta; and, while Has-se felt ready to meet the snake in the games of running, shooting, and hurling the javelin, he feared that with his greater weight the latter would prove more than a match for him in wrestling.  Could Ta-lah-lo-ko advise and help him in this matter?

“Ay, that can I, Has-se, my lad,” cried Rene; “thou couldst not have hit upon a happier expedient than that of asking advice of me.  ’Tis but a week since I removed a cinder from the eye of Simon the Armorer, and in return for the favor he taught me a trick of wrestling that surpasses aught of the kind that ever I saw.  I have practised it daily since, and would now confidently take issue with any who know it not without regard to their superior size or weight.  I will show it thee if thou wilt promise to keep it secret.  Ha!”