'But how did you cross the water?' inquired the old woman.

'Oh, I just jumped!' said he. And his grandmother asked him no
more questions, for she saw that he was wiser than she.

['Indian Folk Tales.' Bureau of Ethnology.]



The Turtle and His Bride



There was once a turtle who lived among a great many people of
different kinds, in a large camp near a big river which was born
right up amongst the snows, and flowed straight away south till
it reached a sea where the water was always hot.

There were many other turtles in the camp, and this turtle was
kind and pleasant to them all, but he did not care for any of
them very much, and felt rather lonely.

At last he built himself a hut, and filled it with skins for
seats, and made it as comfortable as any hut for miles round; and
when it was quite finished he looked about among the young women
to see which of them he should ask to be his wife.

It took him some time to make up his mind, for no turtle likes
being hurried, but at length he found one girl who seemed
prettier and more industrious than the rest, and one day he