Nobody had it!

The Winnebagos looked sheepishly at one another and then Migwan and Gladys offered to go back and get it.

“We’ll sit right here, and wait for you,” said Hinpoha, “and none of us will speak a word until you come.”

Many Eyes was propped against a tree while her escort sat around on the ground holding their handkerchiefs in front of their mouths to keep from talking.  Migwan and Gladys presently came panting up and the procession resumed its way into the woods.  It was harder walking here and the tail-bearers often stumbled against each other or accidentally kicked each other’s shins, and when that happened they had to compress their lips tightly to keep back the exclamations of surprise or pain that involuntarily sought expression.  The procession wound up beside the stream which Sahwah had discovered in the woods on the other side of the hill, at a smooth, grassy spot where the clover grew in abundance.  Here they set Many Eyes down on the ground and began hunting diligently for the symbol of good luck.  It was a good thing that the four leaf clover was found soon—­and by Sahwah, too, which was taken as a further omen of good luck—­or the strain of the silence might have been fatal to a few of the searchers.  Agony was ready to burst long before the time limit was up.

Then, when the charm of the silence had gotten in its good work, and the little green quatrefoil had been fastened into the outstretched right hand of Many Eyes, Hinpoha selected several soft, flat stones from the stream and carved them with further good luck omens—­the swastika, the horseshoe, and all the other signs she could think of that were supposed to bring good luck.  These were to be a part of the kite’s tail.  A little later they all clasped hands and wished for success on the evening star.  Then, to her great delight, Hinpoha caught a glimpse of the slender new moon over her left shoulder, and registered her wish on that.  Meanwhile the others noticed a big black spider letting himself down from the tree above, directly in front of Many Eyes—­another omen of good fortune.  Never had the signs been so auspicious for any undertaking.

Nyoda carried Many Eyes with her when she took her place on the Council Rock.  The Council Fire was to be held on the great flat rock that overhung the Devil’s Punch Bowl; an impressive place indeed to hold a Camp Fire Ceremonial, up there right under the stars, it seemed, with the wind fiddling through the branches all around them and the water whispering to itself below.  The rock was about twenty feet wide and as flat as a table.

Agony and Oh-Pshaw and Veronica, who were the lowest in rank of the Winnebagos, had gathered the wood for the fire and laid the fagots in place in the center of the rock, with the bow and drill and tinder beside it and the supply of firewood nearby.

Nyoda smiled whimsically at Many Eyes, standing against the perpendicular back ledge of the Council Rock, and with her heart full of love for the girls who could get so much fun out of a kite, wished success to their cause with all her soul.  Then she stood up in the center of the rock and sent forth the clear call, the summons for the tribe of Wohelo to come to the Council Fire.