` When the sun touches the trunk of that tree we will start , ' said she , as they both stood side by side . But with the first step Ball-Carrier changed himself into a wolf and for a long way kept ahead . Then gradually he heard her creeping up behind him , and soon she was in front . So Ball-Carrier took the shape of a pigeon and flew rapidly past her , but in a little while she was in front again and the end of the prairie was in sight . ' A crow can fly faster than a pigeon , ' thought he , and as a crow he managed to pass her and held his ground so long that he fancied she was quite beaten . The witch began to be afraid of it too , and putting out all her strength slipped past him . Next he put on the shape of a hawk , and in this form he reached the bounds of the prairie , he and the witch turning homewards at the moment . Bird after bird he tried , but every time the witch gained on him and took the lead . At length the goal was in sight , and Ball-Carrier knew that unless he could get ahead now he would be killed before his own door , under the eyes of his wife . His eyes had grown dim from fatigue , his wings flapped wearily and hardly bore him along , while the witch seemed as fresh as ever . What bird was there whose flight was swifter than his ? Would not the good spirits tell him ? Ah , of course he knew ; why had he not thought of it at first and spared himself all that fatigue ? And the next instant a humming bird , dressed in green and blue , flashed past the woman and entered the house . The witch came panting up , furious at having lost the race which she felt certain of winning ; and Ball-Carrier , who had by this time changed back into his own shape , struck her on the head and killed her . For a long while Ball-Carrier was content to stay quietly at home with his wife and children , for he was tired of adventures , and only did enough hunting to supply the house with food . But one day he happened to eat some poisonous berries that he had found in the forest , and grew so ill that he felt he was going to die . ` When I am dead do not bury me in the earth , ' he said , ` but put me over there , among that clump of trees . ' So his wife and her three children watched by him as long as he was alive , and after he was dead they took him up and laid the body on a platform of stakes which they had prepared in the grove . And as they returned weeping to the hut they caught a glimpse of the ball rolling away down the path back to the old grandmother .
One of the sons sprang forward to stop it , for XXXXX had often told them the tale of how it had helped him to cross the river , but it was too quick for him , and they had to content themselves with the war club and bow and arrows , which were put carefully away .
Ball-Carrier adventures course day first front head prairie shape sight