Atondido Stories
The next morning the two travellers who had been so long
away came back to the land. Whirlwind came first and great
clouds of dust foretold his coming, and the sea dashed high
against the rocks, and the trees shrieked and tossed their heads,
all dancing gaily because of his return. When Whirlwind had
passed by, Rain came along following close, because of his blind-
ness. For several days Rain stayed with the people and the flow-
ers bloomed and the grass was green again and the wells and
streams were no longer dry. And since that time Wind and Rain
have never long been absent from the Atlantic Coast. And to this
day the Sparrow-people know when Rain is coming, and to sig-
nal his approach they gather together and twitter and hop along
and make a great hub-bub, just as they did when their ancestor
found him by means of his down-feather in the olden days. But
the Indians have been true to the Chief's promise, and they will
not hunt Sparrows for game nor kill them for food or for their
feathers. For they remember that of all the birds it was old Spar-
row who long ago searched successfully for the Rain.
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