the boy got up and ate the food she gave him. When he had
finished every scrap she spoke as before: 'Tell me, my grandson,
have not the good spirits visited you all these many days that
you have fasted?'

'Not all, grandmother,' answered he; 'there are still some who
keep away from me and say that I have not fasted long enough.'

'Then you must fast again,' replied the old woman, 'and go on
fasting till you receive the gifts of all the good spirits. Not
one must be missing.'

The boy said nothing, but lay down for the third time on the
buffalo skins, and fasted for twenty days more. And at the end
of that time the witch thought he was dead, his face was so white
and his body so still. But when she had fed him out of the bowl
he grew stronger, and soon was able to sit up.

'You have fasted a long time,' said she, 'longer than anyone ever
fasted before. Surely the good spirits must be satisfied now?'

'Yes, grandmother,' answered the boy, 'they have all come, and
have given me their gifts.'

This pleased the old woman so much that she brought him another
basin of food, and while he was eating it she talked to him, and
this is what she said: 'Far away, on the other side of the great
river, is the home of the Bad One. In his house is much gold,
and what is more precious even than the gold, a little bridge,
which lengthens out when the Bad One waves his hand, so that