Page:Myths and Legends of British North America.djvu/187

 dived and came up a long way off, shouting very loudly:

He sang that many times.

"Be quiet," shouted Wolverene, "you shall be red-eyed!" And so Loon is even today. Then Wolverene returned to the birds and pulled their feathers off and cleaned them. He put them in a pot to boil.

Then Wolverene saw Jay flying about in the woods. Now the Canadian Jay is a great talker. Wolverene threw a firebrand at Jay, shouting, "You'll be telling on me, you long-tongued bird."

And Jay did so. He flew away to some Indians. He said to them, "Wolverene has killed a lot of birds and is cooking them." Then he added, "I think he is sleeping. I'll show you where he is."

The Indians said at once, "We are hungry. We will go." And they went. Now Wolverene was asleep beside the pot. Then the Indians pulled out all the birds and ate them all. Only the bones they put back in the pot.

After a long time, Wolverene awakened. He said, "Now I shall have my dinner." He poured it all out into his eating dish. Behold! There were only the bones of the birds, and the broth. Wolverene said, "I must have been asleep a long while. The meat is all boiled away."