"Soon a great white Beaver--white as
the snows of winter--came to him and asked:
'Why do you sing that song, my brother?
What do you want of me? I have never
heard a man sing that song before. You
must be in trouble.'

"'I am the Unlucky-one, ' the young-man
replied. 'I can do nothing well. I can find
no woman who will marry me. In the hunt
my bow will often break or my lance is poor.
My medicine is bad and I cannot dream.
The people do not love me, and they pity me
as they do a sick child.'

"'I am sorry for you, ' said the white Beaver
--chief of all the Beavers in the world--'but
you must find my brother the Coyote, who
knows where OLD-man's lodge is. The Coyote
will do your bidding if you sing that song
when you see him. Take this stick with you,
because you will have a long journey, and
with the stick you may cross any river and
not drown, if you keep it always in your hand.
That is all I can do for you, myself.'

"On down the river the Unlucky-one
travelled and the sun was low in the west on
the fourth day, when he saw the Coyote on