country. You ask Wantasson if Coyote is not the most cunning of the animals."
"Wantasson has told us so. But he did not tell us about Coyote and the mosquito. Please tell us that, Klayukat," and Antonio's voice dropped into its most pleading tones.
"Wait until I get some more leather, and then as I braid the lariat I will tell you the story."
The children seated themselves near his doorway. Soon he returned and sat down on his whalebone. Then he commenced his work and his story at the same time.
In the long, long ago Mosquito was larger than any man now alive. His bill was five feet long, and it ended in a strong sharp point. He lived in a narrow canyon near a spring.
When any animal came for water, Mosquito would rush out singing, "Now I 'll suck you, suck, suck." He would stick his bill through the animal and drink every drop of blood in its body. So many did he kill that there was weeping in each animal home, and every family begged Coyote to find them relief.
Coyote thought long and deep. Then he took his stone knife and five twigs,—one of hazel, one of elder, one of crab apple, one of pine, and one of
