THE MAGIC ARROW 157

in the village. I have heard it with my own ears. Now
I give you solemn warning that your untruthfulness
must cease, and the word of a chief goes with it.
From this moment your tongue must be straight. If
ever again you make a statement that proves to be
false, you shall leave the village and the tribe until
you learn to speak the truth.”

For some days all went well. Kadonah, frightened
at last, told no more falsehoods, and the chief began
to think that his son had at last given heed to his
warning. Then one day in spring, as he was passing
through the forest, he heard his son talking in a small
clearing where the boys were wont to practise with
their bows and arrows.

“My father has an arrow that will spring from
his bow with the speed of the wind and always hit
the mark,” Kadonah was saying. “Never once has it
failed. It is a magic arrow.”

“That is likely!” taunted one of the boys. “It is
only another of your falsehoods. If your father, the
chief, had such an arrow, we should have heard
Olcit.

“Get it and show it to us!” shouted another.

“T will get it, and you shall see with your own eyes
what it can do,” Kadonah cried, and ran away toward
his father’s lodge. He knew that his father had no
magic arrow, but the chief’s arrows were all so beau-
tifully fashioned and his bow was so strong and