Page:Myths and Legends of British North America.djvu/121

This page has been proofread, but needs to be validated.

BRITISH NORTH AMERICA

smoke his pipe. Fox was much annoyed with Hare. So Fox went on alone and soon left Hare and the fire far behind. He was also swifter than the wind, but wind kept right after him. So when Fox reached his own people, he said, "I bring the warm chinook wind. You will be cold no longer."

At first his people did not believe him. But soon the chinook wind began to blow. The ice and snow melted. The people felt the cold no more. Then Fox said, "Henceforth the chinook wind shall no longer belong only to the Heat People of the south. Warm winds shall blow over the north and the rest of the world. They shall melt the snow and dry the earth. Only sometimes may they be followed by fire. Henceforth the Cold People shall not always rule the weather and plague the Indians with their icy winds."

Now the wind had left the fire far behind, and without wind the fire soon died out.

A long time afterward Hare arrived home and met Fox. Fox was smoking a fine stone pipe, all carved with many strange figures. Hare's pipe was only of wood.

Fox said to Hare, "You and I are the greatest smokers of all the people. Let us run a race. The one who wins shall have both pipes; and the one who

87