"Suddenly, when near the river, a whirl of wind brought a dreadful odor to his nostrils; an odor of dead and decaying flesh. He stopped, sat up, looked sharply ahead, saw nothing to alarm him, went on a short distance, and came upon a scene that made him shiver; that made him mourn: there, on the trail and on both sides of it, lay his youthful kin who had gone out to seek wives! There they lay, their bodies swollen and bursting, every one of them mangled and torn, several half eaten by their enemies, wolves probably, that had discovered and killed them all! One look at them was enough; he hurried on, weeping, and plunged into the river. "Upstream he went, faster than he had ever swam before, and soon entered the lower one of the beaver ponds. Straight to the chief's lodge he swam, and dived down to the entrance, and went up into the big and comfortable grass-floored home. "'Ha! Loud Slap! It is you! Welcome you are! Sit youth and give us the news!' the chief cried out. "Loud Slap greeted him and gave the news, and both wept over the death of so many of their kind. The chief's wife went out and spread the news, and there was mourning in every lodge in that pond. "The chief then gave Loud Slap bad news. Said he: 'In the early part of this moon came to us a visitor from the big pond at the head of the lake on the next stream south of this river.' He meant, of course, the great beaver pond just above Lower Two Medicine Lake. "'Yes?' said Loud Slap,--'yes?' "'Ah! He came and visited us and our kin in the other ponds, and gave no reason for his coming, and soon went home. But in a few days' time he returned with all his gens, and they are many, and took possession of the upper pond, your pond, and at this time they are repairing the dam and backing the water up into the new growth of food trees, which are as thick as they can stand. We told him, we all told him, this chief,--Strong Dam is his name,--that he should not take the pond, as it belongs to you, to your father, White Fur, and his gens. But he said that he did not care who owned it, he had taken it, and would hold it, fight for it against all comers.' "'Ha! Is it so!' Loud Slap cried. 'We will see about that! Say nothing to any one that I have been here. Tell your people to keep my visit secret from all above here. I go to bring my kindred over, and we will drive that Strong Dam and his gens back whence they came, or kill them all.' "Loud Slap went back to his Little River home the next day, and told all that he had seen and learned. All mourned and mourned for their dead, and their hearts burned with anger against Strong Dam and his gens. Said White Fur: 'I am old, old. But I can still fight! We will go over to our pond to-morrow. I will lead you, and we will teach that Strong Dam and his relatives something; we will send them crying back to their pond above the lake!'