One afternoon Has-se asked Réné 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. Réné 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 Réné; "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