And the hunter died content . Scarcely eight moons had passed when , just as he had said , the wife went forth , and followed her husband ; but before leaving her children she bade the two elder ones think of their promise never to forsake the younger , for he was a child , and weak . And while the snow lay thick upon the ground , they tended him and cherished him ; but when the earth showed green again , the heart of the young man stirred within him , and he longed to see the wigwams of the village where his father 's youth was spent . Therefore he opened all his heart to his sister , who answered : ` My brother , I understand your longing for our fellow-men , whom here we can not see . But remember our father 's words . Shall we not seek our own pleasures , and forget the little one ? ' But he would not listen , and , making no reply , he took his bow and arrows and left the hut . The snows fell and melted , yet he never returned ; and at last the heart of the girl grew cold and hard , and her little boy became a burden in her eyes , till one day she spoke thus to him : ` See , there is food for many days to come . Stay here within the shelter of the hut . I go to seek our brother , and when I have found him I shall return hither . ' But when , after hard journeying , she reached the village where her brother dwelt , and saw that he had a wife and was happy , and when she , too , was sought by a young brave , then she also forgot the boy alone in the forest , and thought only of her husband . Now as soon as the little boy had eaten all the food which his sister had left him , he went out into the woods , and gathered berries and dug up roots , and while the sun shone he was contented and had his fill . But when the snows began and the wind howled , then his stomach felt empty and his limbs cold , and he hid in trees all the night , and only crept out to eat what the wolves had left behind . And by-and-by , having no other friends , he sought their company , and sat by while they devoured their prey , and they grew to know him , and gave him food . And without them he would have died in the snow . But at last the snows melted , and the ice upon the great lake , and as the wolves went down to the shore , the boy went after them . And it happened one day that his big brother was fishing in his canoe near the shore , and he heard the voice of a child singing in the Indian tone -- ` My brother , my brother ! I am becoming a wolf , I am becoming a wolf ! ' And when he had so sung he howled as wolves howl . Then the heart of the elder sunk , and he hastened towards him , crying , ` Brother , little brother , come to me ; ' but he , being half a wolf , only continued his song .
And the louder the elder called him , ` XXXXX , little brother , come to me , ' the swifter he fled after his brothers the wolves , and the heavier grew his skin , till , with a long howl , he vanished into the depths of the forest .
Brother Indian day days fishing journeying left night wigwams woods