Many Indian boys can do this, but not all. Many try and fail. The boy did as his father commanded, for when the time came he went into the secret lodge in the deep forest and laid himself down alone on the mat his mother had woven for him. He did not fear, but his strength was weak. All night he lay there alone. In the morning his father came and asked him if the strong spirit had come to him in his dreams. The boy shook his head. No dreams had come to him. Each day for ten days the father came to the little lodge in the wilderness and asked his son if the strong manitou had come to him. “It is not for me to have such dreams, my father. I am not brave. The strong manitou will not come to me. Let me give up my fast.” “If you give up now, the manitou will never come. Hunger makes my son weak, but his heart is strong. It is only a short time more to wait. Then my son shall be the strongest of all.” The Indian boy covered his face and lay still upon the mat. He would obey his father. The morning of the eleventh day the boy saw his father enter the wigwam. He slowly turned his face toward him and whispered: “Let me break my fast; I have no dreams.” “To-morrow I will bring you food. To-morrow you shall come to the lodge of your father.” The boy closed his eyes and said no more. He was very weak and faint. The next morning the father went with the earliest morning light to the little lodge in the forest. Peeping through the door he saw his son sitting up. Beside his mat were brushes and paint. He was painting himself red and brown. “The manitou will free me, but it is not the spirit my father wanted,” he heard the boy say. The father rushed into the lodge, but as he touched his boy the lad changed into a bird and flew out of the open doorway. Sitting on the top of the lodge he sang these words: “Do not mourn for me, my father, for I am happy. I did not want to be a warrior. I wanted only to be free. I shall find food upon the fields and the hills. I will comfort you.” Then he flew away. Opechee lives near the homes of men. He loves to comfort them when they are sad. He is happy when they are happy. His songs are for the little children and for the fathers and mothers who want their little ones to be brave. Opechee is not afraid in the storm, and many have heard him singing just after the great thunderbirds had called to each other and the water was coming fast from the sky to find a place to hide in the ground. Opechee is brave, but not strong. Schoolcraft. XLII. THE INDIAN WHO MARRIED THE MOON (Chippewa) One of the warriors in an Ojibway band had a boy who refused to fast as all other boys and men had done. “I like to eat; it is hard to be faint and hungry,” said the boy when his father took him to the little wigwam in the forest. “You shall eat after the manitou has talked to you,” said the father. “I will not fast; let me have my bow and arrows and I will hunt for you,” said the boy.