Now it
happened that while Has-se was a merry, lovable lad, he had one bitter
enemy in the village. This was a young man somewhat older than himself,
named Chitta, which means the snake. Their quarrel was one of long
standing, and nobody seemed to know how it had begun; but everybody said
that Chitta was such a cross, ugly fellow that he must needs quarrel with
somebody, and had chosen Has-se for an enemy because everybody else loved
him.
One afternoon Has-se asked Rene to go out on the river with him in his
canoe, as he had that to tell him which he did not wish to run any risk
of being overheard by others. Rene willingly agreed to go with him, and
taking his cross-bow and a couple of steel-tipped bolts, he seated
himself in the bow of the light craft, which Has-se paddled from the
stern. Going for some distance down the river, they turned into a small
stream from the banks of which huge, moss-hung oaks and rustling
palm-trees cast a pleasant shade over the dark waters. Here the canoe
was allowed to drift while Has-se unburdened his mind to his friend.
It seemed that the day of the Ripe Corn Dance, the great feast day of his
tribe, was set for that of the next full moon. On this day there was to
be a series of contests among the lads of the village to decide which of
them was most worthy to become Bow-bearer to Micco, their chief and his
father. This was considered a most honorable position to occupy, and he
who succeeded in winning it and filling it satisfactorily for a year was,
at the expiration of that time, granted all the privileges of a warrior.
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