cho-gay climbed as quickly as possible to the broad back of the eagle and made himself comfortable between the great wings. he had to lie forward on his stomach, with his arms around the eagle’s neck, as the smooth feathers, though warm, were very slick and he had no wish to slide off.
it was a queer sensation to feel the earth drop away from beneath him, as they rose swiftly into the air from the rock shelf of his cave, and the rocks and trees seemed to sink down to the ground. cho-gay could hardly realize that it was he who was rising above the earth, he seemed to stay still and everything else to move.
presently all timbertangle lay beneath them, a great mass of tangled, brown tree tops, with here and there a bald knob of mountain rising above them. even these soon flattened out into a mottled plain stretching far, far away in every direction—a plain that grew hazier and less distinct every moment, as they were flying very swiftly and almost directly up—and soon timbertangle was[167] altogether lost to sight as light, wind-blown clouds drifted between them and the earth beneath.
the eagle flew very easily, with no apparent effort, and his great wings rose and fell with a motion as regular as the beating of a heart.
long before this, kaw, feeling that he could not keep up with the strong flight of the eagle, had lighted on the broad back beside cho-gay, and his bright eyes turned in every direction, taking in the surroundings.
the cool wind whistled by their ears, but cho-gay’s skin was tough from constant exposure to all kinds of weather, and the wind made little difference to him.
kaw was enjoying himself thoroughly. “i only wish there was a pool somewhere near,” he said in an undertone to cho-gay, “so that i could see how i look. how about this color—will it come off easily?”
cho-gay stared hard as the realization came to him that from previous experiments he had found that this particular color did not come off easily. he whispered this to the crow.
“well,” said kaw, when this had been made clear to him, “that’s nice—a pretty pickle, i call it. i must say i can’t blame you though. there is some gain in everything, and no matter how old[168] i get to be, i will never turn gray!” he chuckled suddenly:
“who ever heard of a crow that was red?
oh, bless my poor feathers and bones!
my friends will all think that old kaw is dead,
and shed many big tears and groans!”
“well,” said kaw cheerfully, “i’d better give you a few instructions while i have the chance,” and he lowered his voice so that cho-gay could barely hear. “you might as well know now that we are going to the up-above country to steal the thunder drum.” seeing a startled look in cho-gay’s eyes, he quickly added, “i have it all planned out, so there will be no danger to anyone.”
“i was not thinking of myself,” said cho-gay gravely, “but you know if the up-above people get mad they’ll send terrible storms and blow down trees and perhaps do much damage.”
“i thought of that,” whispered kaw. “the thunder drum was made, long, long ago, by a man-animal of your people, an indian chief of great bravery, and was, by some strange magic, stolen from him by the up-above people. i’ve no doubt that one of chu-ta-win’s ancestors helped, for it would take an eagle to carry it up, so it’s just as well that he helps us now. there have been many[169] who have tried to get the drum back to the earth-people, but they didn’t have as good a scheme as i’ve got. all i will want you to do is to get the attention of old chaco, the keeper of the drum, on something else so he will not notice me while i scout around a bit. ask him if he can tell you where to find the blue charm wongo lost. it was the great charm of the bear clan and he has been afraid ever since that the other bears would discover that he has lost it. you know the up-above people see everything that happens on the earth.”
“what good will it do to steal the thunder drum?” asked cho-gay.
“what good?” snapped kaw. “don’t you know that it is the thunder drum that brings the rain? every time chaco, the rain-man, beats it, the people of the water clan pour water through the holes in the clouds and it falls to earth. if we once had the thunder drum in timbertangle, there would be no more dry seasons, for we would beat it ourselves when we wanted, rain.”
“look! little brother,” called chu-ta-win, “there are the sun-clouds, and they guard the way to the up-above country.”
a great bank of clouds rose before them, so white of themselves and so brilliant with sunshine that cho-gay had to close his eyes, and when he[170] opened them again, though it had been but a second or two, they had slipped through the clouds and were rising above a new and wonderful world. there were hills and canyons and desert, but they were all in the wonderful colors of the sunset and never remained long the same.
the trees were purple, with leaves of gold that glittered like polished flint in the sunlight, and there were lakes and rivers like huge splashes of turquoise. strange animals ran and crawled among the bushes and the air was full of birds that flew close and talked to them, and others that soared above and below as if curious to see who these visitors to their country might be. a great hawk flew toward them, followed by several old owls and an ugly-looking vulture.
“the keeper of the gateway,” called chu-ta-win, in a low voice. “he will ask why we are here.”
“welcome to you, chu-ta-win,” called out the hawk as he approached, “but who comes with you?”
“two brothers of the earth born,” answered chu-ta-win. “i have brought them to see your wonderful country.”
“what do they wish here?” asked the hawk again, and before the eagle could answer, cho-gay spoke for himself:
[171]“we come searching for the blue charm that was lost by wongo, the bear. none of the bear clan knows where it is, but you, of the sky, see all things and can, no doubt, tell us where it may be found.”
“um-m-m,” answered the hawk, “i have not seen nor heard of this charm, but you might go over to those of the water clan and ask chaco. he may be foolish-headed enough to give his time to such things. but remember there are no idlers here and we do not welcome idle questions.”
“humph,” came kaw’s low voice in cho-gay’s ear, “that fellow is entirely too full of his own importance. i’ll teach him something when i next meet him below.”
they were nearing the cloud ground now, and presently landed with a springing jerk. cho-gay slipped from the smooth back of the eagle and stood swaying a bit, as his legs grew accustomed to standing again.
chu-ta-win was not at all tired from his long flight and seemed as fresh as when they had started.
“come on,” said he, “we’ll take a look around. everybody up here has his own particular work to do. some are of the water clan and some of the ice clan. they make hail and snow. over there is the place where the winds come from.[172] they make lightning up here, too—all kinds, and eclipses. ever see one of those? look around, you can see for yourself, you have eyes in your head.”
kaw gave a grunt and, in a very good imitation of cho-gay’s voice, spoke for him:
“eyes in my head and ears in my head,
i’ve heard before all you have said.”
the eagle grew red in the face and answered haughtily, “i was speaking for your entertainment and not to be insulted.”
cho-gay answered hastily—he saw that it would be useless to explain that he had not spoken—“i did not mean anything, chu-ta-win. what i have heard before was not nearly so interesting as what you have told me.”
“well,” answered the eagle, somewhat satisfied with this, “suppose we walk around a bit and see things. you say you are in search of a charm?” he was looking at kaw as he spoke, his eye traveling from the tip of the glaring white bill to the last red tail feather, and his searching glance annoyed kaw exceedingly, especially when, after a moment’s puzzled thought, chu-ta-win threw back his head and laughed until the tears dropped from his eyes.
[173]“now i have it!” he cried. “it is kaw you remind me of. except for the color you could be his brother.
“haw—haw—” continued the eagle, “haw—haw—haw—! did i ever tell you, cho-gay, why it is that kaw never speaks to me any more? avoids me, in fact?”
“no,” said cho-gay, with an uneasy glance at the crow. “suppose we go on now.”
“oh, it is too good to keep,” insisted the eagle. “it is the only time i ever heard of the laugh being turned on kaw.”
“kaw is a friend of mine,” said cho-gay, “and a friend of redskin’s too.”
“oh, that’s all right. you will enjoy the joke. it is because your friend here reminds me so much of kaw that i thought of it. he looks like him, except for his color, and talks like him. you aren’t related to kaw by any chance?” and chu-ta-win bent down and looked closely at kaw as he asked the question, breaking into another long chuckle as he did so.
kaw was furious. every feather stood on end with anger and his eyes flashed. he quivered from head to tail, and yet, to the amazement of cho-gay, he did not answer the eagle but turned instead to him and spoke in an icy tone:
[174]“if your friend insists on telling funny stories when our time is so short, i, at least, do not need to stay and hear him. i will meet you at yonder lake.” he indicated a splash of blue water a short distance in front of them, and he rose into the air with all the dignity he possessed and flew off in the direction of the lake.
“whee!” said chu-ta-win. “such language! our friend is not very polite,” and he chuckled again. “he certainly reminds me of kaw!”
“what was the joke?” asked cho-gay. “i wouldn’t mind hearing it now.”
“our red friend did not want to hear it,” mused chu-ta-win. “well, here it is, and you will understand why kaw avoids even the sound of my voice. i was taking a nap one day; it was hot and i had dropped down under a big bunch of sagebrush. i suppose just my head must have been visible and even then i don’t see how he ever came to make such a mistake, but kaw, coming up, took me for a lady friend of his and proceeded to talk most beautifully, and mostly in verse, something like this:
“your dainty bill i dearly love,
its graceful shape is sweet;
but more than all, my lady love,
i praise your clawlike feet!
[175]
“there never was a fairer bird
in all this land, i know;
to say there was would be absurd
and ignorance would show.
“your little wings are dainty things,
each eye a midnight pearl;
your glance a throbbing heart-ache brings;
oh, be my birdie-girl!”
“that’s something like it and there was lots more. i listened for a while without moving a feather, but it finally got too much for me and i just had to laugh, and jumped out of my bush at the same time. it was the first time i have ever seen kaw really what you might call ‘flabbergasted.’ he fell over backwards when he first saw me. he didn’t say a word and he hasn’t spoken to me since. i can’t say i blame him, but it was funny.”
cho-gay grinned and looked off in the direction kaw had taken. chu-ta-win followed his glance. “i won’t say any more about it before our red friend,” he said, and cho-gay looked at him quickly, but the eagle would not meet his eye.
“come on,” said chu-ta-win, “there are lots more things for you to see.”
