[Illustration: _He went slowly and fearfully towards the roaring falls_]
Perhaps it was because he was more than a little frightened at being there, or because it was all new and wonderful that he was alert and wide-awake. In all of the stories Grandfather and other warriors had told him of speaking with spirits, the warriors had always been asleep when the spirits appeared. Little Bear tried closing his eyes, but that did no good. He thought of getting up and walking around, but there was scarcely enough room behind the falls.
He noticed mud swallows were darting about behind the sheet of falling water. The small birds would light on the ground, dip their beaks in the mud, and fly high up on the face of the cliff. They never flew in a straight course, but always zig-zagged irregularly. Since he had nothing better to do and needed practice with his bow, Little Bear began to shoot at the darting birds. They flew so swiftly and darted so unexpectedly that he couldn’t hit any of them. He had shot his fifth arrow when suddenly a large warrior, mounted on a beautiful roan horse, rode out of the falls straight towards him. Little Bear knew at once this was Spirit-of-Water-That-Falls coming to visit him.
“I see you like my little birds,” the Spirit said in a rumbling voice.
Little Bear could find no words to answer him.
“I know you are here because a Crow warrior has stolen horses from your hunting party,” the Spirit went on. “You want to get them back so that your grandfather will have a good buffalo hunting horse and you can trade for a roan colt. You gave me a present. Come, I will show you how to get your horses.”
Little Bear got on the horse behind the Spirit and they rushed off towards the setting sun. They soon saw the Crow running ahead of them. They followed him through woods, across streams, and over rocky ground. Once they lost the Crow in a snowstorm. The wind blew the snow at them so hard that the Spirit and Little Bear had to get off and walk. They came upon the Crow again in a small canyon. He was scraping snow aside to make a place where he could build a fire.
“We can get the horses while he isn’t watching,” the Spirit said.
At that moment Little Bear woke up. He was still sitting on the rock behind the waterfall. He was cold, hungry, and bewildered. Had Spirit-of-Water-That-Falls shown him how to get their horses back, or was the whole adventure only a dream? Perhaps Grandfather could tell him. Little Bear gathered his arrows and stepped out from behind the waterfall. The sun had gone down and it was almost dark. Great Bear was waiting for him below the pool.