It came from nowhere, and it went to nowhere.
"What sort of animal has made this?" he said. And he lay down in the
middle of the ring to think, looking up into the blue sky.
While he lay thinking, he saw a little speck up above him in the sky,
and thought it was an eagle. But the speck grew bigger, and sank down
and down, till he saw it was a great basket coming down out of the
sky. He jumped up and ran back to a little hollow and lay down to hide
in a patch of tall red flowers. Then he peeped out and saw the basket
come down to the earth and rest on the grass in the middle of the
ring. Twelve beautiful maidens were leaning over the edge of the
basket. They were not Indian maidens, for their faces were pink and
white, and their long hair was bright red-brown like a fox's fur, and
their clothes were sky-blue and floating light as cobwebs.
The maidens jumped out of the basket and began to dance round and
round the ring-trail, one behind the other, drumming with their
fingers on little drums of eagle-skin, and singing such beautiful
songs as High-feather had never heard.
Then High-feather jumped up and ran towards the ring, crying out, "Let
me dance and sing with you!"
The maidens were frightened, and ran to the basket and jumped in,
and the basket flew up into the sky, and grew smaller till at last he
could not see it at all.
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