{"collection":"myth-cosmogony","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_51908/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_51908","id":"gutenberg_51908","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/51908","summary":null,"tags":["Category: Mythology, Legends & Folklore","Micmac Indians -- Folklore","Passamaquoddy Indians -- Folklore","Penobscot Indians -- Folklore","Tales -- New England"],"text":"IN INDIAN TENTS\n\n\n\n\n                            IN INDIAN TENTS\n\n                                Stories\n\n                   TOLD BY PENOBSCOT, PASSAMAQUODDY\n                          AND MICMAC INDIANS\n\n                                  TO\n\n                             ABBY L. ALGER\n\n                       [Illustration: colophon]\n\n                                BOSTON\n                           ROBERTS BROTHERS\n                                 1897\n\n                          _Copyright, 1897_,\n\n                         BY ROBERTS BROTHERS.\n\n                           University Press:\n\n                JOHN WILSON AND SON, CAMBRIDGE, U.S.A.\n\n                               This Book\n\n                                  IS\n\n                       AFFECTIONATELY INSCRIBED\n\n                                  TO\n\n                        CHARLES GODFREY LELAND,\n\n                     TO WHOSE INSPIRATION IT OWES\n                              ITS ORIGIN.\n\n\n\n\nPREFACE\n\n\nIn the summer of 1882 and 1883, I was associated with Charles G. Leland\nin the collection of the material for his book \u201cThe Algonquin Legends of\nNew England,\u201d published by Houghton and Mifflin in 1884.\n\nI found the work so delightful, that I have gone on with it since,\nwhenever I found myself in the neighborhood of Indians. The supply of\nlegends and tales seems to be endless, one supplementing and completing\nanother, so that there may be a dozen versions of one tale, each\ncontaining something new. I have tried, in this little book, in every\ncase, to bring these various versions into a single whole; though I\nscarcely hope to give my readers the pleasure which I found in hearing\nthem from the Indian story-tellers. Only the very old men and women\nremember these stories now; and though they know that their legends\nwill soon be buried with them, and forgotten, it is no easy task to\ninduce them to repeat them. One may make half-a-dozen visits, tell his\nown best stories, and exert all his arts of persuasion in vain, then\nstroll hopelessly by some day, to be called in to hear some marvellous\nbit of folk-lore. These old people have firm faith in the witches,\nfairies, and giants of whom they tell; and any trace of amusement or\nincredulity would meet with quick indignation and reserve.\n\nTwo of these stories have been printed in Appleton\u2019s \u201cPopular Science\nMonthly,\u201d and are in the English Magazine \u201cFolk-Lore.\u201d\n\nI am under the deepest obligation to my friend, Mrs. Wallace Brown, of\nCalais, Maine, who has generously contributed a number of stories from\nher own collection.\n\nThe woman whose likeness appears on the cover of this book was a famous\nstory-teller, one of the few nearly pure-blooded Indians in the\nPassamaquoddy tribe. She was over eighty-seven when this picture was\ntaken.\n\n\n\n\nCONTENTS\n\n\n                                                                    PAGE\n\nTHE CREATION                                                          11\n\nGRANDFATHER THUNDER                                                   15\n\nTHE FIGHT OF THE WITCHES                                              19\n\n\u016aLISKE                                                                30\n\nSTORY OF W\u0100L\u016aT                                                        34\n\nOLD SNOWBALL                                                          44\n\n\u0100L-W\u016aS-KI-NI-GESS, THE SPIRIT OF THE WOODS                            51\n\nM\u2019T\u0112\u016aLIN, THE GREAT WITCH                                             53\n\nSUMMER                                                                57\n\nTHE BUILDING OF THE BOATS                                             61\n\nTHE MERMAN                                                            66\n\nSTORY OF STURGEON                                                     72\n\nGRANDFATHER KIAW\u0100KQ\u2019                                                  77\n\nOLD GOVERNOR JOHN                                                     81\n\nK\u2019CH\u012a GESS\u2019N, THE NORTHWEST WIND                                      84\n\nBIG BELLY                                                             95\n\nCH\u012aBALOCH, THE SPIRIT OF THE AIR                                      99\n\nSTORY OF TEAM, THE MOOSE                                             101\n\nTHE SNAKE AND THE PORCUPINE                                          106\n\nWHY THE RABBIT\u2019S NOSE IS SPLIT                                       108\n\nSTORY OF THE SQUIRREL                                                111\n\nWAWB\u0100BAN, THE NORTHERN LIGHTS                                        130\n\nTHE WOOD WORM\u2019S STORY, SHOWING WHY THE\nRAVEN\u2019S FEATHERS ARE BLACK                                           134\n\n\n\n\nIN INDIAN TENTS\n\n\n\n\nTHE CREATION\n\n\nIn the beginning God made Adam out of the earth, but he did not make\nGl\u016bs-k\u0101b\u00e9 (the Indian God). Gl\u016bs-k\u0101b\u00e9 made himself out of the dirt that\nwas kicked up in the creation of Adam. He rose and walked about, but he\ncould not speak until the Lord opened his lips.\n\nGod made the earth and the sea, and then he took counsel with Gl\u016bs-k\u0101b\u00e9\nconcerning them. He asked him if it would be better to have the rivers\nrun up on one side of the earth and down on the other, but Gl\u016bs-k\u0101b\u00e9\nsaid, \u201cNo, they must all run down one way.\u201d\n\nThen the Lord asked him about the ocean, whether it would do to have it\nalways lie still. Gl\u016bs-k\u0101b\u00e9 told him, \u201cNo!\u201d It must rise and fall, or\nelse it would grow thick and stagnant.\n\n\u201cHow about fire?\u201d asked the Lord; \u201ccan it burn all the time and nobody\nput it out?\u201d\n\nGl\u016bs-k\u0101b\u00e9 said: \u201cThat would not do, for if anybody got burned and fire\ncould not be put out, they would die; but if it could be put out, then\nthe burn would get well.\u201d\n\nSo he answered all the Lord\u2019s questions.\n\nAfter this, Gl\u016bs-k\u0101b\u00e9 was out on the ocean one day, and the wind blew so\nhard he could not manage his canoe. He had to go back to land, and he\nasked his old grandmother (among Indians this title is often only a mark\nof respect, and does not always indicate any blood relationship), \u201cM\u0101li\nMoninkwess\u201d (the Woodchuck), what he could do. She told him to follow a\ncertain road up a mountain. There he found an old man sitting on a rock\nflapping his wings (arms) violently. This was \u201cW\u016bchowsen,\u201d the great\nWind-blower. He begged Gl\u016bs-k\u0101b\u00e9 to take him up higher, where he would\nhave space to flap his wings still harder. So Gl\u016bs-k\u0101b\u00e9 lifted him up\nand carried him a long way. When they were over a great lake, he let\nW\u016bchowsen drop into the water. In falling he broke his wings, and lay\nthere helpless.\n\nGl\u016bs-k\u0101b\u00e9 went back to sea and found the ocean as smooth as glass. He\nenjoyed himself greatly for many days, paddling about; but finally the\nwater grew stagnant and thick, and a great smell arose. The fish died,\nand Gl\u016bs-k\u0101b\u00e9 could bear it no longer.\n\nAgain he consulted his grandmother, and she told him that he must set\nW\u016bchowsen free. So he once more bore W\u016bchowsen back to his mountain,\nfirst making him promise not to flap his wings so constantly, but only\nnow and then, so that the Indians might go out in their canoes. Upon his\nconsent to do this, Gl\u016bs-k\u0101b\u00e9 mended his broken wings; but they were\nnever quite so strong as at first, and thus we do not now have such\nterrible winds as in the olden days.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nThis story was told to me by an old man whom I had always thought dull\nand almost in his dotage; but one day, after I had told him some Indian\nlegends, his whole face changed, he threw back his head, closed his\neyes, and without the slightest warning or preliminary began to relate,\nalmost to chant, this myth in a most extraordinary way, which so\nstartled me that I could not at the time take any notes of it, and was\nobliged to have it repeated later. The account of W\u016bchowsen was added to\nshow the wisdom of Gl\u016bs-k\u0101b\u00e9\u2019s advice in the earlier part of the tale,\nand is found among many tribes.\n\n\n\n\nGRANDFATHER THUNDER\n\n\nDuring the summer of 1892, at York Harbor, Maine, I was in daily\ncommunication with a party of Penobscot Indians from Oldtown, among whom\nwere an old man and woman, from whom I got many curious legends. The day\nafter a terrible thunderstorm I asked the old woman how they had\nweathered it in their tents. She looked searchingly at me and said, \u201cIt\nwas good.\u201d After a moment she added, \u201cYou know the thunder is our\ngrandfather?\u201d I answered that I did not know it, and was startled when\nshe continued: \u201cYes, when we hear the first roll of the thunder,\nespecially the first thunder in the spring, we always go out into the\nopen air, build a fire, put a little tobacco on it, and give grandfather\na smoke. Ever since I can remember, my father and my grandfather did\nthis, and I shall always do it as long as I live. I\u2019ll tell you the\nstory of it and why we do so.\n\n\u201cLong time ago there were two Indian families living in a very lonely\nplace. This was before there were any white people in the land. They\nlived far apart. Each family had a daughter, and these girls were great\nfriends. One sultry afternoon in the late spring, one of them told her\nmother she wanted to go to see her friend. The mother said: \u2018No, it is\nnot right for you to go alone, such a handsome girl as you; you must\nwait till your father or your brother are here to go with you.\u2019 But the\ngirl insisted, and at last her mother yielded and let her go. She had\nnot gone far when she met a tall, handsome young man, who spoke to her.\nHe joined her, and his words were so sweet that she noticed nothing and\nknew not which way she went until at last she looked up and found\nherself in a strange place where she had never been before. In front of\nher was a great hole in the face of a rock. The young man told her that\nthis was his home, and invited her to enter. She refused, but he urged\nuntil she said that if he would go first, she would follow after. He\nentered, but when she looked after him she saw that he was changed to a\nfearful, \u2018W\u012b-will-mecq\u2019--a loathly worm. She shrieked, and turned to\nrun away; but at that instant a loud clap of thunder was heard, and she\nknew no more until she opened her eyes in a vast room, where sat an old\nman watching her. When he saw that she had awaked, he said, \u2018I am your\ngrandfather Thunder, and I have saved you.\u2019 Leading her to the door, he\nshowed her the W\u012b-will-mecq, dead as a log, and chopped into small bits\nlike kindling wood. The old man had three sons, one named \u2018M\u2019dessun.\u2019 He\nis the baby, and is very fierce and cruel. It is he who slays men and\nbeasts and destroys property. The other two are kind and gentle; they\ncool the hot air, revive the parched fields and the crops, and destroy\nonly that which is harmful to the earth. When you hear low, distant\nmutterings, that is the old man. He told the girl that as often as\nspring returned she must think of him, and show that she was grateful by\ngiving him a little smoke. He then took leave of her and sent her home,\nwhere her family had mourned her as one dead. Since then no Indian has\never feared thunder.\u201d I said, \u201cBut how about the lightning?\u201d \u201cOh,\u201d said\nthe old woman, \u201clightning is grandfather\u2019s wife.\u201d\n\nLater in the summer, at Jackson, in the White Mountains, I met Louis\nMitchell, for many years the Indian member of the Maine Legislature, a\nPassamaquoddy, and asked him about this story. He said it was perfectly\ntrue, although the custom was now falling into disuse; only the old\npeople kept it up. The tobacco is cast upon the fire in a ring, and\ndraws the electricity, which plays above it in a beautiful blue circle\nof flickering flames. He added that it is a well-known fact that no\nIndian and no Indian property were ever injured by lightning.\n\n\n\n\nTHE FIGHT OF THE WITCHES\n\n\nMany, many long years ago, there lived in a vast cave in the interior of\na great mountain, an old man who was a \u201cKi\u0101w\u0101kq\u2019 m\u2019teoulin,\u201d or Giant\nWitch.\n\nNear the mountain was a big Indian village, whose chief was named\n\u201cHassagw\u0101kq\u2019,\u201d or the Striped Squirrel. Every few days some of his best\nwarriors disappeared mysteriously from the tribe, until Hassagw\u0101kq at\nlast became convinced that they were killed by the Giant Witch. He\ntherefore called a council of all the most mighty magicians among his\nfollowers, who gathered together in a new strong wigwam made for the\noccasion. There were ten of them in all, and their names were as\nfollows: \u201cQu\u0101b\u012bt,\u201d the Beaver; \u201cMoskwe,\u201d the Wood Worm; \u201cQu\u0101gsis,\u201d the\nFox; \u201cK\u2019tch\u012b At\u014dsis,\u201d the Big Snake; \u201c\u0100gwem,\u201d the Loon; \u201cKosq,\u201d the\nHeron; \u201cM\u016bin,\u201d the Bear; \u201cLox,\u201d the Indian Devil; \u201cK\u2019tch\u012bpl\u0101gan,\u201d the\nEagle; and \u201cW\u0101be-k\u00e8loch,\u201d the Wild Goose.\n\nThe great chief Hassagw\u0101kq\u2019 addressed the sorcerers, and told them that\nhe hoped they might be able to conquer the Giant Witch, and that they\nmust do so at once if possible, or else their tribe would be\nexterminated. The sorcerers resolved to begin the battle the very next\nnight, and promised to put forth their utmost power to destroy the\nenemy.\n\nBut the Giant Witch could foretell all his troubles by his dreams, and\nthat selfsame night he dreamed of all the plans which the followers of\nStriped Squirrel had formed for his ruin.\n\nNow all Indian witches have one or more \u201cpoohegans,\u201d or guardian\nspirits, and the Giant Witch at once despatched one of his poohegans,\nlittle \u201cAl\u016bm\u016bset,\u201d the Humming-bird, to the chief Hassagw\u0101kq\u2019 to say\nthat it was not fair to send ten men to fight one; but if he would send\none magician at a time, he would be pleased to meet them.\n\nThe chief replied that the witches should meet him in battle one by one;\nand the next night they gathered together at an appointed place as soon\nas the sun slept, and agreed that Beaver should be the first to fight.\n\nThe Beaver had \u201cSogal\u016bn,\u201d or Rain, for his guardian spirit, and he\ncaused a great flood to fall and fill up the cave of the Giant Witch,\nhoping thus to drown him. But Giant Witch had the power to change\nhimself into a \u201cSeguap Squ Hm,\u201d or Lamprey Eel, and in this shape he\nclung to the side of his cave and so escaped. Beaver, thinking that the\nfoe was drowned, swam into the cave, and was caught in a\n\u201cK\u2019pag\u016bt\u012bh\u012bgan,\u201d or beaver trap, which Giant Witch had purposely set for\nhim. Thus perished Beaver, the first magician.\n\nNext to try his strength was Moskwe, the Wood Worm, whose poohegan is\n\u201cFire.\u201d Wood Worm told Fire that he would bore a hole into the cave that\nnight, and bade him enter next day and burn up the foe. He set to work,\nand with his sharp head, by wriggling and winding himself like a screw,\nhe soon made a deep hole in the mountain side. But Giant Witch knew very\nwell what was going on, and he sent Humming-bird with a piece of\n\u201cch\u016b-g\u0101ga-s\u012bq\u2019,\u201d or punk, to plug up the hole, which he did so well that\nWood Worm could not make his way back to the open air, and when Fire\ncame to execute his orders, the punk blazed up and destroyed Moskwe, the\nWood Worm. Thus perished the second sorcerer.\n\nNext to fight was K\u2019tchi At\u014dsis, the Big Snake, who had \u201cAmwess,\u201d the\nBee, for a protector. The Bee summoned all his winged followers, and\nthey flew into the cave in a body, swarming all over Giant Witch and\nstinging him till he roared with pain; but he sent Humming-bird to\ngather a quantity of birch bark, which he set on fire, making a dense\nsmoke which stifled all the bees.\n\nAfter waiting some time, Big Snake entered the cave to see if the bees\nhad slain the enemy; but he was speedily caught in a dead fall which the\nWitch had prepared for him, and thus perished the third warrior.\n\nThe great chief, Hassagw\u0101kq\u2019, was sore distressed at losing three of his\nmightiest men without accomplishing anything, but still, seven yet\nremained.\n\nNext came Qu\u0101gsis, the Fox, whose poohegan was \u201cK\u2019s\u012b-nochka,\u201d or\n\u201cDisease,\u201d and he commanded to afflict the foe with all manner of evils.\nThe Witch was soon covered with boils and sores, and every part of his\nbody was filled with aches and pains. But he despatched his guardian\nspirit, the Humming-bird, to \u201cQuiliphirt,\u201d the God of medicine, who gave\nhim the plant \u201cK\u012b Kay \u012bn-b\u012bsun,\u201d[1] and as soon as it was administered,\nevery ill departed.\n\nThe next to enter the lists was \u0100gwem, the Loon, whose poohegan was\n\u201cK\u2019tai\u016bk,\u201d or Cold. Soon the mountain was covered with snow and ice, the\ncave was filled with cold blasts of wind, frosts split the trees and\ncracked asunder the huge rocks. The Giant Witch suffered horribly, but\ndid not yield. He produced his magic stone and heated it red-hot, still,\nso intense was the cold that it had no power to help him.\n\nAl\u016dm\u016bset\u2019s wings were frozen, and he could not fly on any more errands;\nbut another of the master\u2019s attendant spirits, \u201cLit\u016dsw\u0101gan,\u201d or Thought,\nwent like a flash to \u201cS\u016bwessen,\u201d the South Wind, and begged his aid.\n\nThe warm South Wind began to blow about the mountain, and Cold was\ndriven from the scene.\n\nNext to try his fate was Kosq, the Heron, whose guardian spirit was\n\u201cChenoo,\u201d the giant with the heart of ice, who quickly went to work with\nhis big stone hatchet, chopped down trees, tore up rocks, and began to\nhew a vast hole in the side of the mountain; but the Giant Witch now for\nthe first time let loose his terrible dog \u201cM\u2019d\u0101ssm\u016bss,\u201d who barked so\nloudly and attacked Chenoo so savagely that he was driven thence in\nalarm.\n\nThe next warrior was M\u016bin, the Bear, whose poohegans were \u201cPet\u0101g\u016dn,\u201d or\nThunder, and \u201cPess\u0101quess\u016dk,\u201d or Lightning. Soon a tremendous\nthunderstorm arose which shook the whole mountain, and a thunder-bolt\nsplit the mouth of the cave in twain; the lightning flashed into the\ncavern and nearly blinded the Giant Witch, who now for the first time\nknew what it was to fear. He yelled aloud with pain, for he was\nfearfully burned by the lightning. Thunder and Lightning redoubled their\nfury, and filled the place with fire, much alarming the foe, who\nhurriedly bade Humming-bird summon \u201cHaplebembo,\u201d the big bull-frog, to\nhis aid. Bull-frog appeared, and spat out his huge mouth full of water,\nwhich nearly filled the cave, quenching the fire, and driving away\nThunder and Lightning.\n\nNext to fight was Lox, the Indian Devil. Now Lox was always a coward,\nand having heard of the misfortunes of his friends, he cut off one of\nhis big toes, and when Striped Squirrel called him to begin the battle,\nhe excused himself, saying that he was lame and could not move.\n\nNext in order came K\u2019tch\u012bpl\u0101gan, the Eagle, whose poohegan was\n\u201cApl\u0101s\u016dmbressit,\u201d the Whirlwind. When he entered the enemy\u2019s abode in\nall his fury and frenzy of noise, the Giant Witch awoke from sleep, and\ninstantly \u201cK\u2019pl\u0101m\u016bs\u016bke\u201d lost his breath and was unable to speak; he\nsigned to Humming-bird to go for \u201cCulloo,\u201d the lord of all great birds;\nbut the Whirlwind was so strong that the Humming-bird could not get out\nof the cave, being beaten back again and again. Therefore the Giant\nWitch bade Thought summon Culloo. In an instant the great bird was at\nhis side, and made such a strong wind with his wings at the mouth of the\ncave that the power of the Whirlwind was destroyed.\n\nHassagw\u0101kq\u2019 now began to despair, for but one witch remained to him, and\nthat was W\u0101be-k\u00e8loch, the Wild Goose, who was very quiet, though a\nclever fellow, never quarrelling with any one, and not regarded as a\npowerful warrior. But the great chief had a dream in which he saw a\nmonstrous giant standing at the mouth of the enemy\u2019s cave. He was so\ntall that he reached from the earth to the sky, and he said that all\nthat was needful in order to destroy the foe was to let some young woman\nentice him out of his lair, when he would at once lose his magic power\nand might readily be slain.\n\nThe chief repeated this dream to W\u0101be-k\u00e8loch, ordering him to obey these\nwise words. Wild Goose\u2019s poohegan was \u201cMik\u016dmwess,\u201d the Indian Puck, a\nfairy elf, who speedily took the shape of a beautiful girl and went to\nthe mouth of the cave, where he climbed into a tall hemlock-tree,\nsinging this song as he mounted:\n\n    \u201cCome hither, young man,\n     Come list to my song,\n     Come forth this lovely night,\n     Come forth, for the moon shines bright,\n     Come, see the leaves so red,\n     Come, breathe the air so pure.\u201d\n\nGiant Witch heard the voice, and coming to the mouth of the cave, he was\nso charmed by the music that he stepped out and saw a most lovely girl\nsitting among the branches of a tree. She called to him: \u201c_W\u2019litt\nhoddm\u2019n, natch\u012b pen eq\u016blin w\u2019liketnqu\u2019 h\u0113mus_,\u201d--\u201cPlease, kind old man,\nhelp me down from this tree.\u201d As soon as he approached her, Gl\u016bs-k\u0101b\u00e9,\nthe great king of men, sprang from behind the tree, threw his\n\u201ctimh\u0113gan,\u201d his stone hatchet, at him and split his head open. Then\naddressing him, Gl\u016bs-k\u0101b\u00e9 said: \u201cYou have been a wicked witch, and have\ndestroyed many of Chief Hassagw\u0101kq\u2019s best warriors. Now speak yet once\nagain and tell where you have laid the bones of your victims.\u201d Giant\nWitch replied that in the hollow of the mountain rested a vast heap of\nhuman bones, all that remained of what were once the mightiest men of\nStriped Squirrel\u2019s tribe.\n\nHe then being dead, Gl\u016bs-k\u0101b\u00e9 commanded all the birds of the air and the\nbeasts of the forest to assemble and devour the body of Giant Witch.\n\nThis being done, Gl\u016bs-k\u0101b\u00e9 ordered the beasts to go into the cave and\nbring forth the bones of the dead warriors, which they did. He next bade\nthe birds take each a bone in his beak and pile them together at the\nvillage of Hassagw\u0101kq\u2019.\n\nHe then directed that chief to build a high wall of great stones around\nthe heap of bones, to cover them with wood, and make ready \u201ceq\u016bn\u0101k\u2019n,\u201d\nor a hot bath.\n\nThen Gl\u016bs-k\u0101b\u00e9 set the wood on fire and began to sing his magic song;\nsoon he bade the people heap more wood upon the fire, and pour water on\nthe steaming stones. He sang louder and louder, faster and faster, until\nhis voice shook the whole village; and he ordered the people to stop\ntheir ears lest the strength of his voice should kill them. Then he\nredoubled his singing, and the bones began to move with the heat, and to\nsizzle and smoke and give forth a strange sound. Then Gl\u016bs-k\u0101b\u00e9 sang his\nresurrection song in a low tone; at last the bones began to chant with\nhim; he threw on more water, and the bones came together in their\nnatural order and became living human beings once more.\n\nThe people were amazed with astonishment at Gl\u016bs-k\u0101b\u00e9\u2019s might; and the\ngreat Chief Hassagw\u0101kq\u2019 gathered together all the neighboring tribes and\ncelebrated the marvellous event with the resurrection feast, which\nlasted many days, and the tribe of Striped Squirrel was never troubled\nby evil witches forever afterward.\n\n\n\n\n\u016aLISKE[2]\n\n\nI was sitting on the beach one afternoon with old Louisa Flansouay\n(Fran\u00e7ois) and the other Indians, when she suddenly rose with an air of\ngreat determination, saying to me, \u201cCome into camp and I tell you a\nstory!\u201d (No story can ever be told in the open air; if the narrator be\nnot under cover, evil spirits may easily take possession of her.)\n\nI gladly followed old Louisa, who is a noted story-teller, and heard the\nfollowing brief but thrilling tale.\n\nMany, many years ago a great chief had an only daughter who was so\nhandsome that she was always known by the name of \u201c\u016aliske,\u201d which is to\nsay \u201cBeauty.\u201d All the young men of the tribe sought her hand in\nmarriage, but she would have nothing to say to them. Her father vainly\nimplored her to make a choice; but she only answered him, \u201cNo husband\nwhom I could take, would ever be any good to me.\u201d\n\nEvery year at a certain season, she wandered off by herself and was gone\nfor many days; where she went no one could discover, nor could she be\nrestrained when the appointed time came round.\n\nAt last, however, she yielded to persuasion and took a husband. For a\ntime all went well. When the season for her absence was at hand, she\ntold her husband that she must go. He said he would go with her, and as\nshe made no objection, they set out on the following morning and\ntravelled until they came to a lovely, lonely lake. A point of land ran\nout into the water, well wooded and provided with a pleasant wigwam.\nHere \u016aliske beached the canoe; they went ashore and remained for two\ndays and nights, when the husband disappeared. \u016aliske in due time\nreturned to her tribe and reported his loss. Her father and his\nfollowers sought long and anxiously, but no trace of him was ever found.\nLater on, \u016aliske took a second husband, a third and a fourth, always\nquietly yielding to persuasion, and always saying as at first, that no\nhusband whom she took could ever be any good to her. One after the\nother visited with her the peninsula in the lake and disappeared in the\nsame sudden and mysterious way.\n\nThe fifth husband was known as \u201c\u016a-el-\u016dm-bek,\u201d \u201cthe handsome, the brave,\u201d\nand he made up his mind to solve the strange riddle of his predecessors.\nWhen he and \u016aliske reached the peninsula, he said that, while she got\nsupper, he would keep on in the canoe and see what fish or game he could\nfind. He went but a little way, then drew the canoe up among the bushes\nand searched in every direction till he found a well beaten foot-path.\n\u201cNow I shall know all,\u201d he said, and hid himself behind a tree. Soon\n\u016aliske came from the wigwam and went down to the water. Undressing\nherself, and letting down her long black hair, she began to beat upon\nthe water with a stick and to sing an ancient Indian song. As she sang,\nthe water began to heave and boil, and coil after coil slowly uprose\nabove the surface a huge Wi-will-mekq\u2019, a loathly worm, its great horns\nas red as fire. It swam ashore and clasped \u016aliske in its scaly folds,\nwrapping her from head to foot, while she caressed it with a look of\ndelight. Then \u016a-el-\u016dm-bek knew all. The Wi-willmekq\u2019 had cast a spell\nupon \u016aliske so that to her it appeared in the likeness of a beautiful\nyoung hero. The worm had destroyed her four husbands, and, had he not\nbeen prudent, would have drowned him as well. Waiting until \u016aliske was\nalone, he returned to the wigwam before she had had time to wash off the\nslimy traces of Wi-will-mekq\u2019s embraces, and charged her with her\ninfatuation. Giving her no time to answer, he hurriedly chewed a magic\nroot with which he had provided himself, flung it into the lake, thus\npreventing any attack as he crossed the water, got into the canoe and\npaddled away, leaving \u016aliske to her fate, well knowing that as she had\nfailed to supply her loathly lover with a fresh victim, she must herself\nbecome the prey of his keen appetite.\n\nRejoining his tribe, he frankly told his story. Even the chief declared\nthat he had done well, and of \u016aliske nothing more was ever heard.\n\n\n\n\nSTORY OF W\u0100L\u016aT\n\n\nIn old times there were many witches among the Indians. Indeed, almost\nevery one was more or less of a magician or sorcerer, and it was only a\nquestion as to whose power was the strongest.\n\nIn the days of which I speak, one family had been almost exterminated by\nthe spells of a famous m\u2019t\u00e9\u016blin, and only one old woman named\n\u201cM\u2019d\u00e9w\u2019t\u2019len,\u201d the Loon, and her infant grandson were left alive; and\nshe, fearing lest they should meet with the same fate, strapped the baby\non her back upon a board bound to her forehead, as was the ancient way,\nand set forth into the wilderness. At night she halted, built a wigwam\nof boughs and bark, and lay down, lost in sad thoughts of the future;\nfor there was no brave now to hunt and fish for her, and she must needs\nstarve and the baby too. As she mourned her desolate state, a voice said\nin her ear: \u201cYou have a man, a brave man, W\u0101l\u016bt,[3] the mighty warrior;\nand all shall be well if you will take the beaver skin from your old\n\u2019t\u2019b\u0101n-k\u0101gan,\u2019[4] spread it on the floor, and place the baby on it.\u201d\nThis she did, and then fell peacefully asleep. When she waked, she saw,\nstanding in the middle of the skin, a tall man. At first, she was\nterrified; but the stranger said, \u201cFear not, \u2018Nochgemiss,\u2019[5] it is only\nI!\u201d and truly, as she gazed, she recognized the features of the baby\nwhom she had laid upon the beaver fur, so few hours before. Even before\nday dawned, he had brought in a huge bear, skinned and dressed it. All\nday he came and went, bringing fish and game, great and small, and the\nold woman was glad.\n\nNext morning, the skin which hung at the door of the wigwam was raised,\nand a girl looked in and smiled at W\u0101l\u016bt. His grandmother said, \u201cFollow\nher not, for she is a witch, and would destroy you.\u201d The next day and\nthe next and so on, for five days, the same thing was repeated; but on\nthe sixth day, the girl not only lifted the curtain, but she entered\nin, went straight to W\u0101l\u016bt\u2019s sleeping place and began to arrange his\nbed. This done, she drew from her bosom \u201cnokoksis,\u201d tiny brass kettles,\nand proceeded to cook a meal,--soup, corn and meat,--all in perfect\nsilence. Grandmother watched her, but said nothing. When the meal was\ncooked, the girl set a birch-bark dish before grandmother and W\u0101l\u016bt, and\nbegan to ladle out the soup. Although the kettle was so small that it\nseemed no bigger than a child\u2019s toy, both the dishes were filled and\nplenty then remained. No word was said; but when night came, the girl\nlay down beside W\u0101l\u016bt and thus, by ancient Indian law, became his wife.\nTheir happy life, however, was of short duration, for the girl\u2019s mother,\n\u201cTom\u0101qu\u00e8,\u201d the Beaver, was a mighty magician, and was angry because her\ndaughter had married without her consent. She therefore stole her away\nand deprived her of all memory of her husband and the past. W\u0101l\u016bt was\ndetermined to recover his bride, and his grandmother, wishing to help\nhim, took from the old bark kettle a miniature bow and arrows. These she\nstretched and stretched until they became of heroic size. She strung the\nbow with a strand of her own hair, and gave it to her grandson, telling\nhim that no arrow shot from that bow could ever miss its mark. She also\ndressed him from head to foot in the garb of an ancient warrior,\nformerly the property of his grandfather, as was the bow. She told him\nthat he had a long, hard road to go, and many trials to overcome; but he\nwas not afraid. All day he travelled, and, at night fall, came to a\nwigwam in which lived an old man. W\u0101l\u016bt asked him where Tom\u0101qu\u00e8 might be\nfound. The old man answered: \u201cI cannot tell you, my child. You must ask\nmy brother who lives farther on. He is much older than I, and he may\nknow. To-night you can rest here, if you can put up with the hardships\nof my wigwam.\u201d W\u0101l\u016bt accepted this offer, and the old man began to heap\ngreat stones on the fire. It grew hotter and hotter, and W\u0101l\u016bt thought\nhis last hour had come; but he said to himself, \u201cI can suffer,\u201d and he\npiled more stones on the fire, and built a wall of them about the\nwigwam, so that it grew hotter than ever, and the old man said, \u201cLet me\nout, let me out, I am too hot!\u201d But W\u0101l\u016bt said, \u201cI am cold, I am cold!\u201d\nand so he conquered the first magician.\n\nNext night he came to the home of the second brother, who made the same\nanswer to his inquiries as the first, and also offered him a night\u2019s\nshelter if he could bear the hardships of the wigwam. No sooner had\nW\u0101l\u016bt accepted his offer, than he sat down and bade his guest pick the\ninsects from his head and destroy them, after the old custom, by\ncracking them between his teeth. Now these insects were venomous toads\nwhich would blister W\u0101l\u016bt\u2019s lips and poison his blood. Luckily he had a\nhandful of cranberries in his pocket, and for every toad, he bit a\ncranberry.[6] The old man was completely deceived, and when he thought\nthat his guest had imbibed enough poison to destroy him, he bade him\ndesist from his task. Thus W\u0101l\u016bt passed successfully through the second\ntrial. On the third day he journeyed until he came to the abode of the\nthird brother, oldest of all, seemingly just tottering on the brink of\nthe grave. W\u0101l\u016bt again asked for Tom\u0101qu\u00e8, and the old man answered:\n\u201cTo-morrow, I will tell you. Rest here to-night, if you can bear the\nhardships of my home.\u201d As they sat by the fire the old man began to rub\nhis knee, and instantly flames of fire darted from every side; but W\u0101l\u016bt\nwas on his guard, and uttered a spell which drew the old man slowly, but\nsurely, into the fire which he had created, and he perished. \u201cRub your\nknee, old man,\u201d cried W\u0101l\u016bt, \u201crub your knee until you are tired!\u201d\n\nNext morning as he drew the curtain, boom, boom, a noise like thunder\nfell upon his ear. It was the drumming of a giant partridge. W\u0101l\u016bt\nfitted an arrow to his bow and shot the bird to the heart, well knowing\nthat it was his wife\u2019s sister \u201cK\u0101k\u0101g\u016bs,\u201d the Crow, who had come to\ncapture him. Towards evening he reached a great mountain towering above\na quiet lake. As he looked, he saw upon the summit, his wife,\nembroidering a garment with porcupine quills, for this was where she\nlived with her mother. Catching sight of him, she plunged at once into\nthe centre of the mountain, having no memory of her husband. He,\nhowever, hid himself, feeling sure that she would come forth again, and\nbeing determined to seize her before she could again disappear. Soon\nindeed he saw her and tried to grasp her, but only caught at her long\nhair. Instantly, she drew her knife, cut off her hair, and vanished\ninto the mountain, where her mother loudly reprimanded her, saying, \u201cI\ntold you never to go outside; you see now that I was right. Nothing\nremains but for you to go in search of your hair.\u201d Next day, therefore,\nthe girl set forth, and on reaching the wigwam of the second old man,\nher grandfather, for all of the old men were of her kin, the veil was\nlifted and she knew that it was her husband who had sought her and\nstolen her hair. She at once rejoined him; he restored her long locks,\nand, by his magic power, they again grew upon her head and for a year\nall went well. At the end of that time she became the mother of a boy,\nwhom she called \u201cK\u012b\u016bny\u201d the Otter. Soon all the game and fish\ndisappeared. W\u0101l\u016bt went out every day, searching the woods and waters\nfor many miles around; but, night after night, he came home\nempty-handed, and starvation seemed very near at hand. Then Nochgemiss,\nthe Grandmother, warned them that Tom\u0101qu\u00e8 was bent on revenge, and bade\nW\u0101l\u016bt go forth and slay her. She armed him with a bone spear from the\nold pack kettle, and he travelled to the mountain. It was mid-winter and\nthe lake was covered with clear ice. Deep down beneath the ice a giant\nbeaver swam to and fro, no other than Tom\u0101qu\u00e8 herself. Vainly W\u0101l\u016bt\nplunged his spear into the depths. Again and again she evaded him,\nuntil, in a fury, he cried, \u201cYour life or mine!\u201d and at last succeeded\nin striking her; but so powerful was she that she raised him into the\nair, using the spear in his hand as a lever, the other end being deep in\nher side. The result seemed doubtful; but grandmother, who knew all that\nwas passing, flew to her boy\u2019s aid and, in the shape of a huge snake,\nAt\u014dsis, wound herself about Tom\u0101qu\u00e8, fold upon fold, and at last\nconquered the foe and crushed her to death, W\u0101l\u016bt dealing the final\nstroke.\n\nGrandmother hastened home, leaving W\u0101l\u016bt unconscious of the help that\nshe had given him, and found K\u012b\u016bny gasping with fever. His mother, well\naware of all that had passed, through the power of second sight, also\nknew that the baby\u2019s illness was caused by Tom\u0101qu\u00e8\u2019s dying curse.\nMeantime W\u0101l\u016bt returned, and his grandmother told him that all she could\ndo, would be to save him; that wife and child must perish, as indeed\nthey soon did.\n\nNot long after, in the early morning, a girl lifted the skin which hung\nat the opening of the wigwam and looked in. As W\u0101l\u016bt glanced up at her,\nshe fled. He pursued her, but almost instantly lost sight of her. Next\nday, came another girl, to whom he also gave chase, also in vain. On the\nthird morning, he was more successful, because this time the girl was\nmore willing to be followed. He tracked her to her home, but did not\nenter, wishing first to consult his grandmother. She told him that these\nwere the three daughters of \u201cM\u014dd\u0101wes,\u201d or Famine. The youngest girl, she\nsaid, would be a good wife to him; and she directed him, when she came\nnext day, to touch her lightly on the arm.\n\nThe girl came; he pursued her and, fleet-footed though she was, he\nmanaged to touch her before she escaped into her mother\u2019s wigwam. Ere\nlong, to her mother\u2019s rage and fury, but much to the delight of her\nsisters, a little boy was born to her, who, in reality, was W\u0101l\u016bt\nendowed with this form by his grandmother\u2019s aid,--no baby, but a strong\nbrave man.\n\nNow, M\u014dd\u0101wes was a cannibal, and the ridge-pole of her wigwam was strung\nwith cups made from the skulls of her victims. W\u0101l\u016bt, seeing these, was\nat once aware that they were all that was left of those who had fallen\nprey to the witch\u2019s horrible appetite. He resolved to slay her; but as\nher daughters had been very kind to him, he wished to spare them, and\nsaid to himself: \u201cI wish that a snow-white deer would pass by!\u201d\nInstantly, the white deer moved slowly before the door. The three girls\nsprang after it. W\u0101l\u016bt rose to his full stature; clad in his\ngrandfather\u2019s ancient dress, he snatched his timh\u0113gan from his belt and,\nwith a single blow, laid M\u014dd\u0101wes dead at his feet. He then set fire to\nthe wigwam and returned to Grandmother Loon. When the three daughters of\nM\u014dd\u0101wes gave up their hopeless chase of the enchanted deer and came\nhome, no home was there, only a black heap of ashes. They mourned for\ntheir dear baby, whom they naturally supposed had perished in the\nflames; but they never again found the path which led to W\u0101l\u016bt\u2019s lodge.\n\n\n\n\nOLD SNOWBALL\n\n\nMany years ago an Indian family, consisting of an old father and mother,\ntheir two sons, and their baby grandson were camping in the woods for\nthe winter hunt. In the same neighborhood lived a horrible old witch and\nher three daughters. This witch ate nothing but men\u2019s brains and skulls.\nShe would pick the bones clean, and dry them, and had a long row of such\ntrophies all round the upper part of her wigwam, looking like so many\nsnowballs. From this she took her name, and was known as old Snowball.\nThe girls were very beautiful, and set out by turns every evening to\nensnare some young man for their mother\u2019s meal. So it happened that soon\nafter the Indian family had settled in camp, one twilight, as they sat\nround the fire, a beautiful girl passed by, so charming the eldest son,\nthat he set out in pursuit of her and never returned, having fallen a\nprey to Snowball. A night or two later, another equally lovely girl\nappeared, and the second son, who was a widower, and the father of the\nbaby boy, started to chase her, with the same result. The same fate\nbefell even the old man, and the poor old woman was left alone with the\nbaby. She was terribly afraid that the witch would get him too, and kept\nhim hidden in a great birch-bark basket, t\u2019b\u0101n-k\u0101gan. As he grew older\nand began to talk and run about, he was always wishing that he were a\ngrown man, that he might help his grandmother, hunt for her and fetch in\nwood for her. At last, the old woman, who was something of a magician,\ntold him that if he really was so anxious to be big, he might lie down\nthat night on the other side of the fire, and she would see what could\nbe done. Next morning, behold, he was a full grown man. His grandmother\nbrought out her husband\u2019s pack kettle, and gave him all the tools and\nweapons which he needed, stringing his bow with her own hair.\nThenceforth, he brought in plenty of game, and they would have been very\nhappy if the old woman had not constantly dreaded the appearance of the\nwitch\u2019s daughter. At last she came, looking more fascinating than ever;\nbut the young man went on with his work, and never raised his eyes.\nNext night, the second daughter passed by; he looked up at her, but that\nwas all. The third night, the third daughter, youngest and fairest of\nall, appeared. He sprang up to follow her; but his grandmother begged\nhim to stay, or she would kill him as she had slain so many of his\nfamily. He finally consented to wait till another night, and said that\nhe would not chase her, but merely follow and see where she went. His\ngrandmother wept bitterly, but did her best to ward off misfortune, by\nseeing that he took the bow strung with her hair, and also a certain\nsmall bone from the mink, possessed of great magical power. The young\nman soon turned himself into a tiny bird, \u201cch\u016bk\u0101lisq\u2019,\u201d and hopped about\nalmost in reach of the girl\u2019s hand. He seemed so tame that she thought\nshe might lay her hand on him, and indeed after several attempts she did\ncontrive to catch him and put him in her bosom. Then she ran home to\ntell her mother of the lovely bird that she had found. \u201cThat is no\nbird,\u201d said her mother; \u201cjust let me look at him.\u201d She put her hand in\nher breast, but there was nothing there. From that moment she grew\nbigger and bigger, and in due time gave birth to a fine boy. Her mother\nwanted to kill the child; but she would not consent, and, for safe\nkeeping, carried the baby always in an Indian bark cradle strapped over\nher shoulders. Meantime, the spell of her beauty held possession of the\nyoung man, and he could not rest till he saw her once more. Turning\nhimself into a deer, he sought Snowball\u2019s lodge, where he gambolled and\nplayed about until the three girls ran out to see the pretty creature,\nforgetting the baby who had been left behind. The deer led them into the\nforest, and then sped back to the lodge, where he found the witch just\nabout to kill the child and devour its brains. Taking his spear, he at\nonce slew her and, hiding himself, killed the two older girls in turn as\nthey returned home. When the third daughter appeared, he stepped forward\nand claimed her as his wife. \u201cNow,\u201d said he, \u201cyou must stand aside, for\nI am going to burn up the lodge with the bodies of your mother and\nsisters.\u201d She was very unwilling, but at last yielded. The old witch was\nloath to die, and rose repeatedly from the flames; but the magic spear\nwas too much for her. The young man, with his wife and baby, went home\nto his grandmother, and for a year lived very happily. Then the young\nwoman became sad and silent and, when questioned, said that great\ntrouble was at hand, that her aunt, who was a powerful sorceress, was\ncoming to avenge the murder of her kindred, and she feared the\nconsequences. The grandmother made all preparations, this time stringing\nthe bow with the young woman\u2019s hair. Next day the baby began to cry, and\nnothing would quiet him, until the old woman thought of giving him her\nhusband\u2019s bark pack kettle, where some of his ancient treasures were\nstill kept. Then the baby smiled, and began to turn over the things and\nplay with them. Suddenly he laughed aloud and cooed for joy and toddled\nto his father with a little bone. \u201cFool that I am,\u201d exclaimed the old\nwoman, \u201chow could I forget that! This may save us yet.\u201d (It was Luz, the\nancient resurrection bone of the Jews, and had once formed part of the\nanatomy of one of the greatest magicians ever known.) The young man\nbound it to the head of his spear and set forth, his grandmother having\ntold him that the time had come, and that he must that day kill the\ngreat Beaver (his wife\u2019s aunt), or the whole family must perish. He soon\ncame to a great lake where there was a beaver dam as high as a\nmountain. He could see the big Beaver moving about under the ice; but\nall his efforts to pierce the ice were in vain, it grew thicker and\nthicker under his spear, and rose in great waves. He returned at\nnightfall discouraged, but started out again next day, his grandmother\ntearing apart her scarlet bead-wrought legging, and bidding him fling\nthat on the ice to see if it would not break the charm. All day he\nstrove, but even the legging was of no avail. Next day he took the\nsecond legging, and at last succeeded in striking his spear through the\nice and into the enemy, Qu\u0101b\u012bt. Then began a mighty battle, Beaver\nstruggling to break the spear or to escape, and the young man fighting\nto retain his hold. At home the baby began to scream and cry, and the\nwomen knew their hero was in danger. The grandmother wept as if her boy\nwere already dead; but his wife said, \u201cFear not, for I will help him.\u201d\nShe flung a handful of magic roots out at the door, and instantly a\nsheet of water lay there, and she was at her husband\u2019s side. She told\nhim not to loose the spear, but to watch well, that she would fight his\nbattle. \u201cIf you see me pass under the ice before my aunt, all is well;\nbut if she comes first, she has conquered, and we must all perish. I\nshall be all white like snow, while she is jet black.\u201d The young man\nstood rooted to the spot, while the ice cracked and heaved with fearful\nnoises. At last the white beaver passed before him under the clear ice,\nand he knew that victory was his. His wife then told him that there was\nstill another and a more terrible enemy to be conquered before he and\nhis could be safe. This triumph too she gained, though at a fearful\ncost, for she was never again to see her husband, home, or child. The\nyoung man went back to his grandmother with drooping head, and heard how\nthe baby had kept his grandmother informed of the progress of the fight\nby his changing tears and smiles. And that is all about it.\n\n\n\n\n\u0100L-W\u016aS-KI-NI-GESS, THE SPIRIT OF THE WOODS\n\n\nSeeing a smoke come from the top of a mountain, the children asked the\nelders what it was, or who could live there, and the fathers told them:\n\u201cThat is the home of \u2018\u0100l-w\u016bs-ki-ni-gess,\u2019 a tree-cutter, whose hatchet\nis made of stone. He throws it from him; it cuts the tree and returns to\nits master\u2019s hand at each blow. One stroke of his hatchet will fell the\nlargest tree. No one ever saw him save Gl\u016bs-k\u0101b\u00e9, who often goes to the\ncave to visit him. He is a harmless creature, and only fights when\nordered to do so by Gl\u016bs-k\u0101b\u00e9. He lives in that mountain, on deer,\nmoose, or any meat he can kill. Sometimes he goes out to sea with\nGl\u016bs-k\u0101b\u00e9, to catch \u2018K\u2019ch\u012b b\u016btep,\u2019 the Great Whale.\n\n\u201c\u2018\u0100l-w\u016bs-ki-ni-gess and \u2018Ki\u0101w\u0101hq\u2019 once had a big fight, which lasted for\ntwo days. Ki\u0101w\u0101hq\u2019 put forth all his power to conquer, but failed. He\nuprooted huge trees, expecting them to fall and crush his rival in\nstrength; but \u0100l-w\u016bs-ki-ni-gess would hurl his hatchet and split the\ntree asunder. Ki\u0101w\u0101hq\u2019 strove to drag him into the sea, but the wood\nspirit is as strong in the water as on land, to say nothing of the fact\nthat when he is in the water, \u2018K\u2019ch\u012bqu\u012b-nocktsh,\u2019 the Turtle, comes to\nhis aid. Once Ki\u0101w\u0101hq\u2019 got his foe between two great trees and felt sure\nhe could slay him as they fell. \u0100l-w\u016bs-ki-ni-gess seized his axe and\nstruck the trees which fell. The wind caused by their fall was so mighty\nthat it left Ki\u0101w\u0101hq\u2019 faint and exhausted. He was forced to beg for\nquarter, and promised his enemy that if he would spare his life, he\nwould give him a stone wigwam and be his good friend forever. So the\nwood spirit had mercy and accepted his offer. That is how he got that\ncave where he still lives.\u201d\n\nThis was the answer of the elders to their children\u2019s question.\n\n\n\n\nM\u2019TE\u016aLIN, THE GREAT WITCH\n\n\nIn a certain place, alone by herself, lived an old woman whom none dared\nto approach, for she had bewitched many Indians.\n\nIn the spring of the year when the men came back from their long winter\nhunting for furs, they would gather together and build what they called\neq\u016b\u2019n\u0101k\u2019n,[7] hot-baths, to drive off their diseases. They would enter\nthe hut, and heat it red-hot until it would almost roast them. They\nwould strip off their clothes, and dance and sing songs to drive off\ndisease.\n\nOnce before the performance ended, they were amazed to see a woman among\nsuch a crowd of men; but they feared to speak to her. One young man\nlaughed when she threw off her clothes. This angered her, and she said:\n\u201cYou laugh at me now; but I will send a flood to destroy you.\u201d Then she\nleft the hut.\n\nAfter a time, the youth who had laughed, said, \u201cHark!\u201d\n\nAll stopped to listen, and they heard the rush of water, and knew the\nwitch had kept her word,--the flood was upon them. But the young man was\nsomething of a sorcerer too, and had a rattlesnake for poohegan, or\nmessenger (all witches have at least one poohegan).\n\nHe instantly changed all his comrades into beaver and fish.\n\n\u201cHa! ha!\u201d laughed \u201cCopcomus,\u201d Little One, for such was the youth\u2019s name.\n\u201cYou cannot finish your work, old witch. I will be avenged on you yet. I\nwill pray Gl\u016bs-k\u0101b\u00e9 to follow and kill you.\u201d\n\nThey all swam out of the eq\u016b\u2019n\u0101k\u2019n, and when the water ceased to flow,\nCopcomus went along the stream and saw a large number of beaver building\na house like eq\u016b\u2019n\u0101k\u2019n, so he changed them all back to Indians again.\nThey were very glad, and thanked him heartily.\n\n\u201cNow,\u201d said Copcomus, \u201cwe must hold a council at once and decide what to\ndo with the old witch, for she will try to destroy us yet.\u201d\n\nSome said, \u201cWe will burn her wigwam;\u201d one said: \u201cNo, she would know of\nour coming and turn us into some evil thing!\u201d Another said his idea was\nto persuade the great bird, W\u016bchowsen, Wind, to move his wings harder\nand faster, thus causing \u201cUptossem,\u201d the Whirlwind, to destroy her; but\nCopcomus said: \u201cI will see to-night what is best.\u201d (Witches always see\nin their sleep how their enemies may be destroyed).\n\nThe old woman too saw in her sleep that Copcomus was plotting to kill\nher; so she sent her messenger, the Humming-bird, to bid W\u016bchowsen not\nto move his wings faster than usual.\n\nCopcomus cried to his poohegan: \u201cGo, creep into her wigwam and bite the\nold witch;\u201d and he tied cedar bark about the snake\u2019s rattle, that it\nmight make no noise.\n\nThe snake went by night, glided in and bit the old woman\u2019s big toe. The\npain waked her, and her toe swelled rapidly. She sent the Humming-bird\nto seek \u0100l-w\u016bs-ki-ni-gess, the Wood Spirit.\n\nThe bird flew to the cave in the mountain, and when \u0100l-w\u016bs-ki-ni-gess\nasked: \u201cHow now, little bird?\u201d the bird replied: \u201cThe Great Witch bids\nyou come with your hatchet without delay.\u201d So the Spirit lit his pipe\nand set forth. When he reached his journey\u2019s end, he found the witch\nmoaning with pain. \u201cWhat is the matter, \u2018Mookmee\u2019 [Grandma]?\u201d he asked.\n\nHer only reply was: \u201cCut off my toe at once.\u201d\n\nHe raised his axe, but K\u2019ch\u012bqu\u012bnocktsh, the Turtle, Gl\u016bs-k\u0101b\u00e9\u2019s uncle,\nwho had been sent by Gl\u016bs-k\u0101b\u00e9 to help Copcomus, jogged his elbow and\nthe hatchet cut off her leg.\n\nNext day Copcomus said to his men: \u201cWe must go and implore Gl\u016bs-k\u0101b\u00e9 to\nconquer the witch. No one else can do it.\u201d So they besought the mighty\nMaster to help them. He laughed aloud, and said: \u201cWhat! all these strong\nmen with warclubs, spears, and bows, to slay one poor old woman! Why, my\nuncle could do the work single-handed.\u201d\n\n\u201cShe must die,\u201d said Copcomus; \u201cwe will send your uncle, the Turtle, and\nlet him do the work single-handed.\u201d\n\nSo the Turtle set forth once more; but as he is a slow traveller, it\ntook him two days to reach the witch\u2019s home. \u201cWhat is the matter,\nGrandma?\u201d he asked. \u201cAlas!\u201d she cried, \u201c\u0100l-w\u016bs-ki-ni-gess has killed\nme!\u201d\n\nTurtle then drew his hunting-knife and finished her.\n\n\n\n\nSUMMER\n\n\nThere lived near \u201cK\u012bsus,\u201d the Sun, a beautiful woman named \u201cNiffon,\u201d\nSummer. She dressed in green leaves, and her wigwam was decked with\nleaves and flowers of many different sorts. Her grandmother, Sogal\u016dn,\nRain, lived far away, but when she visited her granddaughter, she always\nwarned her never to go near \u201cLet-ogus-n\u016bk,\u201d the North, where her worst\nenemy, \u201cBovin,\u201d Winter, lived, saying: \u201cIf you do go, you will lose all\nyour beauty, your dress will fade, your hair will turn gray, and your\nstrength will leave you.\u201d\n\nBut Niffon paid no heed to her grandmother\u2019s warning. One fine morning\nas she sat in her wigwam gazing northward, and saw no signs of\nBovin,--the sun was shining and she could see for a long distance,--a\nbeautiful region lay stretched before her, broad rivers, and lakes, and\nhigh mountains,--something within her bade her go forth to see that\nstrange country; so she started on her long journey. She knew that her\ngrandmother could not see her, and though she seemed to hear her say:\n\u201cDo not go near your enemy; he will surely slay you,\u201d she did not heed\nit, but journeyed on and on. The mountains and lakes seemed far away;\nbut she did not lose heart. Looking back, she could see nothing of her\nown lovely home. The bright sun overhead was the only thing not new and\nstrange to her. She felt a vague sadness and distress; and when once\nmore a voice murmured: \u201cDo not go, my daughter,\u201d she resolved to turn\nback, but it was too late. Some unseen power now forced her towards the\nnorth. Still the mountains and lakes were as far away as ever; her dress\nwas beginning to fade; her long hair had turned gray; her strength was\nfailing fast; the sun, too, had lost his power; and, as she neared her\njourney\u2019s end, she saw that the mountains were but heaps of snow, the\nbeautiful lakes but fields of ice.\n\nMeantime her grandmother, seeing no smoke rise from Niffon\u2019s wigwam,\ngrew alarmed and concluded to visit her. When she got there, she found\nthe wigwam empty, the green boughs on the floor withered and dry, and\nthe leaves faded. \u201cOh, my poor grandchild is in the clutches of Bovin,\u201d\nshe cried, and summoned her bravest warriors, \u201cS\u016bwessen,\u201d the South\nWind, \u201cHy-ch\u012b,\u201d the East Wind, and \u201cSnoteseg-du,\u201d the West Wind, and\nbade them hasten northward and fight like devils to save Niffon.\n\nThese invisible warriors started on their journey, and as they did so,\nBovin felt that something was wrong, and ordered his braves,\n\u201cLet\u016b-gessen,\u201d North Wind, and \u201cK-lkegessen,\u201d Northeast Wind, to hurry\nsouthwards and meet the foe.\n\nSweat began to pour from Bovin\u2019s every limb, his nose grew thin, and his\nfeet shrivelled away. Another day and the giants met; large flakes of\nsnow mixed with raindrops flew in every direction; sharp gusts of\ncontrary winds were heard. The drops of sweat on Bovin\u2019s brow grew\nlarger and larger. By this time, the hair on Niffon\u2019s head was snow\nwhite and her dress tattered and faded.\n\nThe roar of the wind grew ever louder and sharper; the snow and rain\nfell faster and thicker; at last Bovin fell from his place and broke one\nof his legs, and Niffon knew her enemy was conquered.\n\nBovin bade one of his warriors tell Niffon to depart; he will harm her\nno more.\n\nThen she turned again towards her own country, her beauty all gone, an\nold old woman.\n\nMany hours pass; by degrees, as she travels her strength returns, she\nmoves faster, and, as the air grows warmer and softer, she feels happier\nand begins to look young again; her hair returns to its natural color,\nher dress is green once more. She sees the lakes and rivers shining; but\nit will still be many days before she reaches her wigwam, and she must\nmeet her grandmother before she sees her dear home.\n\nAt last the air was warm, the clouds grew dark, the rain began to fall,\nand the wind blew fiercely; amidst the darkest clouds she saw a large\nwigwam; she entered and found her grandmother reclining on a bed of\nskins, so changed that she hardly knew her.\n\nThe old woman looked up and said: \u201cMy child, you have nearly caused my\ndeath. I have lost all my power through your disobedience. I can never\nhelp you in your future wars. My great fight with Bovin has taken all my\nstrength; go and never depend upon me more.\u201d\n\n\n\n\nTHE BUILDING OF THE BOATS[8]\n\n\nWhen the water was first made, all the birds and the fowl came together\nto decide who should make their canoes for them, so that they might\nventure out upon the water.\n\nThe Owl proposed that the Loon should do the work; but the Black Duck\nsaid: \u201cLoon cannot make canoes; his legs are set too far behind. Let the\nOwl make them.\u201d\n\nThen the Loon said: \u201cThe Owl cannot make canoes; his eyes are too big.\nHe can\u2019t work in the day-time for the sun would put out his eyes.\u201d\n\nThen the Duck laughed and made fun of the Owl. This made the Owl angry,\nand he said to Black Duck: \u201cYou ought to be ashamed of your laugh; it\nsounds like the laugh of \u2018Kett\u0101g\u016ds,\u2019[9] quack, quack, quack.\u201d\n\nThen all the fowls laughed aloud at the Duck. The Owl said: \u201cLet \u2018S\u012bps\u2019\n[the Wood Duck] build our boats.\u201d\n\n\u201cHow can he build canoes,\u201d cried all the rest, \u201cwith his small neck?\u201d\n\n\u201cHe is too weak,\u201d said the Loon.\n\nThe birds were quite discouraged; but they liked the looks of the water\nvery much. At last \u201cKosq\u2019,\u201d the Crane, spoke: \u201cMy friends, we cannot\nstay here much longer. I am very hungry already. Let us draw lots, and\nwhoever draws the lot with a canoe marked on it shall be the builder of\nboats.\u201d\n\nAll were satisfied with this suggestion, and the Raven was appointed to\nprepare the lots; but the Owl objected, saying: \u201cHe is a thief; I know\nhe is.\u201d\n\n\u201cWell,\u201d said the Night Hawk, \u201clet us get Flying Squirrel to make them.\u201d\n\n\u201cBut Flying Squirrel is not here.\u201d\n\n\u201cWell, let some one go for him.\u201d\n\n\u201cWell, let us get Fox to go for him,\u201d said the Loon.\n\n\u201cOh! I can\u2019t trust the Fox to go,\u201d said the Owl; \u201cfor he would eat\nSquirrel on the way. Just let me give you a word of advice. Let\n\u0100figuessis [Little Mouse] go for the Squirrel.\u201d\n\n\u201cYes,\u201d said K\u2019ch\u012bpl\u0101gan, Eagle, the great chief, \u201cwe must do as he\nproposes. Come, \u0100figuessis, you must go for the Flying Squirrel.\u201d\n\nWhen they saw the Squirrel coming, all cried: \u201cRoom! Make room for him!\u201d\n\nThen the Squirrel stood up before the chief and asked: \u201cWhat can I do\nfor you, my friends?\u201d\n\nEagle told him that they wanted him to make a picture of a canoe on\nbirch bark with his teeth; to make many more pieces all alike; then to\nput them in his \u201cmiknakq,\u201d[10] and let each bird take one. \u201cWhoever gets\nthe piece with the canoe on it, shall make our canoes.\u201d\n\nThe Squirrel went at once and stripped the bark from a birch-tree,\nprepared the lots, and put them in his pouch.\n\n\u201cWho takes the first?\u201d asked the Owl.\n\n\u201cLet \u2018Mid-dessen\u2019 [Black Duck] take the first,\u201d said the chief.\n\nMid-dessen stepped forward, and came back with a piece of bark in his\nbill. So each one went in his turn, and the lot fell to the Partridge.\n\nNow the Partridge is always low-spirited and hardly ever speaks a word;\nand this set all the other birds in an uproar, and they all sang songs,\neach after his own fashion, and they decided to have a great feast.\n\n\u201cGet the horn,\u201d said the chief. When it was brought, he gave it to S\u012bps,\nthe \u201cm\u016b-ta-quessit,\u201d or dance-singer; then the big dance began, and it\nlasted for many days.\n\nWhen the feast was over, the chief said: \u201cNow, Partridge, you must make\nthe canoes, sound and good, and all alike. Cheat no one, but do your\nwork well.\u201d\n\nThe first one made had a very flat bottom; this he gave to the Loon, who\nliked it much. The next, flat bottomed too, was for Black Duck; then one\nfor W\u0101b\u00e8k\u00e8loch, the Wild Goose. This was not so flat.\n\nAnother was for Crane. It was very round. The Crane did not like his\nboat, and said to Eagle: \u201cThis canoe does not suit me. I would rather\nwade than sit in a canoe.\u201d\n\nThe Partridge made canoes for all the birds, some large, some small, to\nsuit their various size and weight. At last his work was done. \u201cNow,\u201d\nsaid he to himself, \u201cI must make myself a better canoe than any of the\nrest.\u201d So he made it long and sharp, with round bottom, thinking it\nwould swim very fast.\n\nWhen it was finished, he put it in the water; but, alas, it would not\nfloat; it upset in spite of all that he could do. He saw all his\nneighbors sailing over the water, and he fled to the woods determined to\nbuild himself a canoe.\n\nHe has been drumming away at it ever since, but it is not finished yet.\n\n\n\n\nTHE MERMAN\n\n\nIn a large wigwam, at the bottom of the sea, lived \u201cH\u0101p\u014dd\u0101mquen,\u201d the\nmerman. He had two sons and three daughters. The elder son\n\u201cPsess\u2019mbemetwigit,\u201d Flying Star, was very brilliant and held a lofty\nposition; while the younger \u201cHess,\u201d the Clam, was the laziest and\nslowest of the family.\n\nThe daughters were named \u201cT\u2019s\u0101k,\u201d Lobster, \u201cH\u0101n\u0101guess,\u201d Flounder, and\n\u201cW\u0101b\u00e8-h\u0101keq\u2019,\u201d White Seal.\n\nEvery morning the old man gave orders to his children as to where they\nshould go, and what they should do, warning them against his two mighty\nenemies, \u201cLampeguen,\u201d another species of Merman, and Water Witch.\n\nOne day as they were about to go hunting, Flying Star told his brother\nof a fearful dream that he had had the night before. He dreamed that he\nand his brother were in a large stone canoe, moving swiftly towards the\nsteep running water (falls), when the canoe turned over, and they both\nwent to the bottom of this great \u201cCobsc\u016bk,\u201d cataract. They were\nsurrounded by singular beings, whose chief took a \u201cw\u016bs-\u0101p-g\u016bk\u201d\n(rawhide), and tied their arms and legs together, then carried them to a\nstrange village, where his warriors held council as to what should be\ndone with the sons of H\u0101p\u014dd\u0101mquen. It was decided to kill them at once,\nas the best means to destroy the foe, for without Flying Star,\nH\u0101p\u014dd\u0101mquen must surely starve. They decided that the older son should\nbe slain by \u201cM\u2019d\u0101sm\u016bs\u201d (a mythical dog, very large and fierce), and the\nyounger by a war club. Just as they loosed M\u2019d\u0101sm\u016bs, Flying Star awoke.\n\nUpon hearing this dream, Hess at once repeated it to his father.\n\nOld H\u0101p\u014dd\u0101mquen knew at once that \u201c\u0100gl\u014dfemma,\u201d the chief of the\n\u201cLampegwinosis,\u201d was about to attack him. He told his children to watch\nwell, and stand their ground as long as a breath of life remained. To\neach he gave careful directions: Flying Star was to take up his position\nin the clouds, and thence watch the sea; if he saw any strange\ncommotion, or heard any strange noise, he was to fly from the clouds to\nthe sea, and kill everything that rose to the surface.\n\nHess, the Clam, was to post himself in the mud at the bottom of the sea,\nand was told that H\u0101p\u014dd\u0101mquen would leave his pipe in the north side of\nthe wigwam. If the contents of the pipe were undisturbed, his children\nmight know that he still lived; but if the \u201cnespe-quomkil,\u201d willow\ntobacco, were gone, and the pipe was partly filled with blood, they\nmight know that he was dead.\n\n\u201cGo, Hess,\u201d the old man commanded, \u201cbury yourself in the mud, five\nlengths of your body, and listen well. You will surely hear when the\nbattle begins. Do not try to escape, or you will perish.\u201d\n\nT\u2019s\u0101k, the Lobster, was to take up her station half-way between the\nsurface and the bottom, and was cautioned not to rise to the surface at\nany time.\n\nH\u0101n\u0101guess, the Flounder, was ordered to come to the surface, where she\nwas to watch and follow the little bubbles; for when her father left his\nwigwam, the bubbles would rise to the top of the water.\n\nW\u0101b\u00e8-h\u0101keq\u2019, the White Seal, was the bravest and brightest of the\nH\u0101p\u014dd\u0101mquen family; she was to accompany her father to the land of the\nLampegwinosis.\n\nThe old man knew that only the chief and a handful of men would be in\nthe village; the fiercest warriors would be lying in ambush for his two\nsons at the falls, where Flying Star and Clam always went to spear eel.\nIf Hess had failed to tell his father of Flying Star\u2019s fateful dream,\neven now they would both be suffering torture at the hands of the foe.\nAs it was, the old man and his brave daughter would attack the village\nby night, while the enemy slept and dreamed of battle and war.\n\nH\u0101p\u014dd\u0101mquen always wore his hair very long, streaming behind him three\ntimes the length of his body. As they neared the village, he felt\nsomething heavy clinging to his hair,--it was tiny beings, as small as\nthe smallest insect, the poohegans, or guardian spirits, of the chief of\nthe Lampegwinosis, little witches who tried by their combined weight to\nlessen the old man\u2019s speed, so that they might gain time to warn their\nmaster of the enemy\u2019s approach.\n\nThe Lampegwinosis were taken entirely by surprise; the strongest men\nwere away, only the old and weak were at home. The great army of\nH\u0101p\u014dd\u0101mquen, composed of all the lobsters, seals, flounders, and clams,\nwas at hand, and the battle began. It was a fearful fight, lasting for\ntwo days and nights. The Lampegwinosis chief tried to escape to the\nsurface; but the waves rose mountain high, and he was always driven back\nby the watchful Flounder.\n\nFlying Star slew all those warriors who reached the surface; while White\nSeal attacked the tiny witches, putting forth all her magic power before\nshe succeeded in subduing them. Then she went to her father\u2019s aid. He\nwas almost exhausted; but she directed her sister, the Lobster, to bite\nthe hostile chief in his tenderest part, and hang to him until the White\nSeal could put an end to him. T\u2019s\u0101k held on, and White Seal killed the\nfoe with one blow of her battle-axe. This ended the conflict.\n\nHess remained in the mud, where, from time to time, he heard his father\nencouraging his men. When all was still once more, he crawled out and\nwent to his father\u2019s wigwam. He was so glad to find the pipe\nundisturbed, that he sang a song of peace.\n\nH\u0101p\u014dd\u0101mquen ordered his warriors to return to their homes until he\nshould again summon them; and he went back to his wigwam, where he found\nhis lazy son, Clam, still singing.\n\nAll the bubbles and foam had vanished from the sea. Flying Star and\nFlounder, coming home, found their father happy, though badly hurt, for\nhe had lost all his beautiful hair in the fight.\n\nAs the Lampegwinosis braves wended their disconsolate way back from the\nfalls, they saw their old Chief-with-feathers-on-his-head borne off by\nan animal resembling an otter, whom they recognized as H\u0101keq\u2019, the brave\ndaughter of H\u0101p\u014dd\u0101mquen. They moaned for their chief; but H\u0101p\u014dd\u0101mquen\nstill lives to destroy little children who disobey their mother by going\nnear the water.\n\n\n\n\nSTORY OF STURGEON\n\n\n\u201cThis story,\u201d said old Louisa, \u201cis from \u2019way, \u2019way back, ever so long\nago;\u201d and indeed it seemed to me that it was so old that only fragments\nof it remained; but I give it as best I can.\n\nMany, many years ago there were three tribes of Indians living not far\napart: the Crows, K\u0101-k\u0101-g\u016bs, the Sturgeons \u201cH\u0101-b\u0101h-so,\u201d and the Minks,\n\u201cM\u016bs-bes-so.\u201d These tribes were all at war, one with the other, and the\nMinks, being very crafty and cunning, as well as brave, at last\nconquered the other tribes, and drove them forth in opposite directions.\n\nNow the followers of K\u0101-k\u0101-g\u016bs found their way to a dry and desert\nregion where they died of hunger and thirst; the tribe of H\u0101-b\u0101h-so\nfound plenty of food, but were overtaken by a pestilence which destroyed\nall but the old chief and his grandson. Meantime, the Minks found that\nthe game had been expelled with the enemy, and they suffered greatly\nfrom hunger.\n\nOld Sturgeon, as I said, had enough and more than enough to eat. He and\nhis grandson built an \u201c\u0101gonal,\u201d a storehouse of the old style, which\nthey filled to overflowing with smoked fish and dried meat.\n\nMink, hearing of this, sent a messenger to investigate. He was well\nreceived, and fed with the best. The Mink himself determined to pay the\nold man a visit, knowing that enemy though he was, he would be kindly\ntreated while a guest, according to Indian etiquette. He asked Sturgeon\nwhere he got all his supplies, and was told that they came from the far\nnorth. Then he said, \u201cAre you alone here?\u201d \u201cYes,\u201d said H\u0101-b\u0101h-so,\n\u201cexcept my grandson;\u201d pointing to a huge Sturgeon who lay flopping by\nthe fire.\n\nNext day when M\u016bs-bes-so left, he was loaded with as much meat as he\ncould carry. When he got home, he told his story, and suggested to his\nfive daughters that one of them should marry Sturgeon\u2019s grandson, who\nwould keep them in plenty for the rest of their lives. So the girls set\nout to visit the enemy in turn, and each returned saying, \u201cI would not\nthink of marrying that monster. If ever I marry, I shall choose a man,\nand not a fish, for a husband.\u201d So it went until it came to the\nyoungest girl. She entered Sturgeon\u2019s wigwam and, without a word, made\nherself at home, began to arrange the bed and cook the food. When night\nfell, and she did not return, her father rejoiced, for he knew she had\nmarried young Sturgeon.\n\nShe, meantime, had waked at night to find a handsome youth beside her,\nwho, with the first rays of daylight, again became a fish. They were\nvery happy together and knew no care. Every morning she found a supply\nof the choicest game or fish at the door, and in due time she became the\nmother of a lovely boy.\n\nHer husband proposed to visit her family to exhibit this new treasure,\nto which she gladly acceded. He told her that there was but one\ndifficulty; namely, that she would have to carry him as well as the\nbaby. She made no objection, and they set forth. When they were almost\nin sight of the Mink village, the young man was turned to a big\nSturgeon, which his wife shouldered, taking the baby in her arms.\n\nThe old Minks were delighted to see her; but the sisters laughed and\nsneered at Sturgeon, and despised their sister for being willing to\naccept such a husband. They were very glad, nevertheless, to accept the\nsupplies of food which he provided every day; and their contempt was\nturned to envy when they awaked one night and saw him in his human form.\nThey then began to plot how they might kill their sister and take her\nplace; but Sturgeon, learning their plans, comforted his distressed\nwife, promising to punish her wicked sisters, whom he did indeed turn\ninto turtles, in which condition they led a moist and disagreeable life.\n\nAfter this, he felt that it was time for him to go; so he furnished his\nfather-in-law with enough provisions to last a year, and set forth on\nhis return journey with his wife and son.\n\nBefore they had gone far, they saw in the distance Kosq\u2019, the Heron,\ncoming towards them. Now Kosq\u2019 had been a suitor of Mistress Mink before\nshe married Sturgeon, and the latter knew him to be bent on vengeance.\nHe told his wife that she must help him, for Kosq\u2019 had great power, and\nit would not be easy to overcome him. Together they built a circular\nwigwam, in which they shut themselves, Kosq\u2019 prowling about outside,\neach determined not to stir from the spot until the other yielded to\nstarvation.\n\nMistress Mink dug in the earth at one side of the wigwam, the bed being\non the other side, and the fire-place in the middle. She dug until a\nstream of water flowed forth which not only gave them drink, but which\ncontained various insects and small creatures which satisfied their\nhunger.\n\nKosq\u2019 outside dug with his long bill and found little or nothing, this\ninner stream attracting all upon which he otherwise might have fed. So\nhe flew thither and thither, weaker and weaker, and ever and again he\ncried to H\u0101-b\u0101h-so: \u201cWill you give up, now?\u201d \u201cNo, no,\u201d was the reply; \u201cI\nam strong and well.\u201d\n\nFinally, poor Kosq\u2019, determined not to yield, died of sheer hunger, and\nH\u0101-b\u0101h-so, with his brave wife and child, came from the wigwam, went\nback to their old grandfather, and in time built up a village.\n\n\n\n\nGRANDFATHER KIAW\u0100KQ\u2019\n\n\nAs I was sitting with old Louisa I showed her an African amulet which I\nwas wearing, made of pure jade, inscribed with cabalistic characters to\nward off the evil eye. Thinking to make it clear to her Indian\nunderstanding, I told her that it was to keep off m\u2019t\u0113\u016blin, sorcerers,\nand kiaw\u0101kq\u2019 (legendary giants with hearts of ice, and possessed of\ncannibalistic tastes). She looked very grave, and told me that I did\nwell to wear it, for there were a great many kiaw\u0101kq\u2019 in the region of\nYork Harbor where we were; it was a famous place for them, although they\nusually chose a colder place, somewhere far away, where it was winter\nalmost all the year. This subject once started, she went on to tell me\nof an adventure of her father.\n\nYears ago when he was first married, and had but one child, a boy about\ntwo years old, it was his habit to go with his family, in a canoe, in\nthe late autumn, and camp out far up north in Canada, in search of furs\nand skins for purposes of trade. He would build a large comfortable\nwigwam in some convenient place, and stay all winter. One year, while\nhunting, he came across a deep footprint in the snow, three or four\ntimes as large as that of any man. He knew it was the track of a\nkiaw\u0101kq\u2019, and in terror retraced his steps, and thenceforth carefully\navoided going in that direction. In spite of this precaution, however,\nthe creature scented him out; for while he was away from the lodge, a\nhuge monster entered, stooping low to enter, and making himself much\nsmaller than his natural size, as such creatures have the power to do.\nThe poor woman, alone there with her child, knew him for what he was,\nand knew that her only hope of escape lay in hiding her fear, so she\naddressed him as her father, and offered him a seat, telling the little\nboy to go and speak to his grandfather. She cooked food for kiaw\u0101kq\u2019,\nwarmed him, and paid him every attention. When her husband returned, she\nsaid to him that her father had come to visit them, and he, too,\nwelcomed the monster, who remained with them all winter, going out to\nhunt, and bringing back moose, bear, and other big game, which the man\ndressed for him. He seldom spoke; but she often saw him look greedily at\nthe baby, and sometimes he would put one of the boy\u2019s fingers in his\nmouth, as if he could not resist the temptation to bite off the dainty\nmorsel; but he always let the little fellow go unharmed at last. It was\nno use for the family to think of escape, as he could so easily have\novertaken them; and, if angered, they knew that he would destroy them.\n\nTowards spring he told them that the time had come for them to go. He\nsaid that his little finger told him that another and mightier\nkiaw\u0101kq\u2019[11] was on his way to fight with him. \u201cYou have been good to\nme,\u201d he said, \u201cand I wish to save you. If my enemy conquers me, he will\ndestroy you; so you must go now, before he sees you. If I live, I will\ncome to your village.\u201d\n\nSo the man with his wife and child got into the canoe and paddled away.\nAfter a while they heard the other kiaw\u0101kq\u2019 coming afar off, for he tore\nup great trees as he came and flung them about like straws, and uttered\nterrible roars. Then they heard the noise of the awful fight; but fear\nlent speed to their canoe, and they at last lost all sound of the\ndreadful kiaw\u0101kq\u2019.\n\nThey never saw their big friend again, and therefore felt sure that he\nhad perished; but they never dared to go back to that camping ground\nagain.\n\n\u201cSo you see,\u201d said Louisa, \u201cthat the kiaw\u0101kq\u2019 really saved the life of\nmy family.\u201d[12]\n\n\n\n\nOLD GOVERNOR JOHN\n\n\nAll summer I had not succeeded in coaxing a single story out of Louisa;\nbut last week she said, \u201cYou come Sunday, I tell you a story.\u201d This\nseemed to be because I told her I was going away. Sunday, when I took my\nseat in the tent, she said, looking very hard at me, \u201cThis is a _true_\nstory; it is about _her_ great, great grandfather,\u201d[13] pointing to her\ndaughter Susan, \u201cOld Governor John Neptune. He was a witch.\u201d I had often\nheard from other Indians tales of old Governor Neptune\u2019s magic powers.\n\u201cHe was such a witch that all the other witches (m\u2019t\u0113\u016blin) were jealous\nof him, and they tried to beat him. He fell sick, and he could not lift\nhis head; so he said to his oldest daughter (he had three daughters),\n\u2018Give me some of your hair.\u2019 She did so, and he bound his arrowheads and\nspear with it, and strung his bow with the long, strong black hair.\nPretty soon the earth began to heave and rock under him. His daughter\ntold him of it, and he took his spear and stuck it into the ground just\nwhere it was beginning to break. He thrust it in so deep that his arm\nwent into the earth up to the elbow, and when he drew it out the iron\nwas bloody. \u2018Now I feel better,\u2019 he said; and he sat up, took his bow\nand shot an arrow straight into the air. Then he told his old lady to\nmake ready and come with him, but not to be afraid. They went to Great\nLake; he told her again not to be scared, took off all his clothes, and\nslipped into the lake in the shape of a great eel. Presently the water\nwas troubled and muddy, and a huge snake appeared. The two fought long\nand hard; but at last the old lady saw her husband standing before her\nagain, smeared with slime from head to foot. He ordered her to pour\nfresh water on him, and wash him clean, for now he had conquered all his\nenemies. From that day forth they had great good luck in everything.\nThis was in his youth, before he became governor of the Indians of\nMaine.\n\n\u201cOne time in midwinter his wife had a terrible longing for green corn,\nand she told him. He went to the fireplace, rolled up some strips of\nbark, laid them in the ashes, and began to sing a low song. After a\nwhile he told her to go and get her corn, and there lay the ears all\nnicely roasted. He used to make quarters, too. He would cut little round\nbits of paper, put them to his mouth, breathe on them, then lay them\ndown and cover them with his hand. By and by he would lift his hand with\na silver quarter in it.\u201d I remarked that he ought to have been a rich\nman; but Louisa said, \u201cOh, he didn\u2019t make many, just a few now and then.\nWhen he was out hunting in the woods with a party and the tobacco gave\nout, they would see him fussing round after they went to bed, and then\nhe would hand out a big cake of tobacco.\u201d\n\nLouisa said several times, as if she thought me incredulous, \u201cThis is a\ntrue story; the old lady told me about the corn herself, and she was the\nmother of my brother Joe Nicola\u2019s wife. She was a witch, too.\u201d\n\nI asked Louisa when and how the Indians learned to make baskets and she\nsaid they always knew. When Gl\u016bs-k\u0101b\u00e9 went away, he told the ash-tree\nand the birch that they must provide for his children; and so they\nalways had, by furnishing the stuff for baskets and canoes.\n\n\n\n\nK\u2019CH\u012a GESS\u2019N, THE NORTHWEST WIND\n\n\nWhen he was a baby he was stolen by \u201cP\u016bkjinsquess,\u201d[14] and taken to a\nfar-off lonely country inhabited by invisible people. His first\nrecollection was of lying under the \u201ck\u2019ch\u012bquelsowe m\u016bsik\u016bk,\u201d or\nfrog-bushes.[15]\n\nHe rose, and, seeing a path, followed it until he reached a wigwam. When\nhe lifted the door, he saw no one, but heard a voice say: \u201cCome in,\n\u2018n\u012bt\u0101p.\u2019\u201d[16]\n\nHe went in, and the voice said: \u201cIf you will be friends with me, I will\nbe friends with you, and help you in the future.\u201d\n\nHe looked about him, but saw nothing but a little stone pipe. He picked\nit up, and put it in his bosom, saying: \u201cThis must be the one who spoke\nto me.\u201d\n\nThen he went out and followed the path still farther. He heard the cry\nof a baby, so he hid behind a tree. The sound came nearer. Soon he saw a\nhideous old woman with a baby on her back, which she was beating. This\nroused his temper, and he shot her with his bow and arrow. She proved to\nbe P\u016bkjinsquess, and the baby was his brother, whom she had stolen from\nhis father, the great East Wind.\n\nHe put the baby in his bosom, and kept on his way. The baby said to him:\n\u201cThere is a camp ahead of us, but you must not go in, for the people are\nbad.\u201d\n\nTo this he paid no heed; and when he came to a large, well-built wigwam,\nhe was eager to see who the bad folks were. He found a crack, and\nlooking through it, he saw a good looking man, with cheeks as red as\nblood, who said: \u201cCome in, friend.\u201d\n\nThey talked and smoked for some time; then the strange man, whose name\nwas S\u016bwessen, the Southwest Wind, said: \u201cLet us wash ourselves and paint\nour cheeks.\u201d They did so, and then kept on talking; but every few\nmoments the good-looking man would start up and say: \u201cLet us wash\nourselves.\u201d[17]\n\nIn the evening two beautiful girls (daughters of Southwest Wind) came in\nand began to make merry with them; but this tired the Northwest Wind,\nand he fell asleep. As soon as he was sound asleep, S\u016bwessen took a long\npole and tossed him like a ball,[18] saying: \u201cGo where you came from.\u201d\n\nAt this, the Wind woke and found himself at the same point from which he\nhad started as a baby. Angry and discouraged, he felt in his bosom to\nsee if the stone pipe and his brother were safe; and finding them there,\nhe threw them on a big rock, and killed both in his rage. Then he\nresumed his journey, but took a different course. He now travelled\ntowards the east, where his father lived.\n\nAs he crossed a hill, he saw a lake shining in the valley below. He\nturned towards it; but before he reached it, he came to a much travelled\npath, which led him to a wigwam, on entering which he saw a very old\nwoman. She cried: \u201cOh, my grandchild, you are in a very dangerous place.\nI pity you, for few leave here alive. You had better be off. Across the\nlake lives your grandfather. If you can swim, you may escape; but be\nsure, when you near the beach, to go backward and fill your tracks with\nsand.\u201d\n\nHe did as she directed; but as he approached the water, he heard a loud,\nstrange sound, which came nearer and nearer. It was the great M\u2019d\u0101sm\u016bs,\nthe mystic dog, barking at him.\n\nHe plunged into the water, thus causing M\u2019d\u0101sm\u016bs to lose the trail and\ngive up the chase.\n\nNorthwest Wind went back to his grandmother; but she avoided him,\nsaying: \u201cYou are very wicked; only a few days ago, I heard news in the\nair, that you had killed your brother, also your friend, the Little\nStone Pipe.\u201d\n\nOnce more he plunged into the lake, and this time reached the farther\nshore in safety. There he found his grandfather, \u201cM\u2019S\u0101rt\u016b,\u201d the Eastern\nStar. (The Indians believe this to be the slowest and clumsiest of all\nthe stars.)\n\nThe great M\u2019S\u0101rt\u016b welcomed him: \u201cMy dear grandson, I see that you still\nlive; but you are very wicked. I hear in the air that you have killed\nyour brother, also your friend, the Little Stone Pipe. I also hear that\nyou have lost your Bird \u2018W\u0101b\u012bt\u2019 and your Rabbit. But, my child, you are\nin a most perilous place. The great Beaver destroys anything and\neverything that comes this way. If you need help, cry aloud to me.\nPerhaps I can aid you.\u201d\n\nAs soon as night came on, the water began to rise rapidly, compelling\nNorthwest Wind to climb into a tree. The Beaver soon found him out, and\ngnawed the tree with his sharp teeth. Northwest Wind thought his end was\nnear, and called aloud: \u201cGrandpa, come!\u201d\n\nM\u2019S\u0101rt\u016b answered: \u201cI\u2019m getting up.\u201d\n\n\u201cCome, Grandpa!\u201d\n\n\u201cI am up now.\u201d\n\n\u201cOh, Grandpa, do come!\u201d\n\n\u201cI am putting on my coat.\u201d\n\n\u201cHurry, Grandpa!\u201d\n\n\u201cI put my hands in the sleeves.\u201d\n\nBy this time the tree was almost gnawed through, and the water was\nrising higher and higher.\n\nHe called again: \u201cCome, Grandpa, come!\u201d\n\n\u201cI have just got my coat on.\u201d\n\n\u201cMake haste, Grandpa!\u201d\n\n\u201cI will put on my hat.\u201d\n\n\u201cHurry, Grandpa!\u201d\n\n\u201cI have my hat on.\u201d\n\n\u201cMake haste, Beaver has almost reached me!\u201d\n\n\u201cI am going to my door.\u201d\n\n\u201cFaster, Grandpa!\u201d\n\n\u201cWait till I get my cane.\u201d\n\n\u201cBe quick, Grandpa!\u201d\n\n\u201cI am raising my door.\u201d\n\nAt this, daylight began to break, the water went down slowly, and the\nBeaver departed.\n\nThe Wind\u2019s Grandfather had saved him.\n\nHe hastened to the old man, who told him that close by there was a large\nsettlement, whose chief was the Great \u201cCulloo.\u201d[19]\n\n\u201cIt is he that stole your Rabbit and your Bird W\u0101b\u012bt.\u201d\n\nNorthwest Wind now turned his footsteps toward the west. He soon heard a\nchopping, and came where there were many men felling trees. He asked how\nfar it was to their village, and they replied: \u201cFrom sunrise till noon,\u201d\nmeaning half a day\u2019s journey.\n\nThen he met men with feathers on their heads, and he asked these where\ntheir village was, where they were going, and what they were doing.\n\nOne of them said: \u201cWe are hunting game for our great chief, Culloo.\u201d\n\nWhile he was talking with one of the men the rest went on, and Northwest\nWind said: \u201cYou had better turn back with me, for I am going to visit\nyour chief, Culloo.\u201d\n\n\u201cHow shall I disguise myself so that he may not know me?\u201d\n\n\u201cI will do that for you,\u201d said the Wind. He took him by the hair, and\npulled out all the feathers.\n\n\u201cNow we can visit the chief.\u201d\n\nWhen they reached the village and were going into \u201cM\u0101li Moninkwessw\u014dl,\u201d\nMistress Molly Woodchuck\u2019s hole, she shrieked aloud. By this the chief\nknew that she was visited by strangers, so he sent servants to learn who\nwas there. They returned and said, \u201cTwo very handsome youths.\u201d\n\nAt this, every young woman in the village went at once to see them, the\nchief\u2019s daughters with the rest; and these latter fell in love with the\nstrangers and married them.\n\nNorthwest Wind said to his new friend: \u201cWhen we go with our wives to\ntheir father\u2019s wigwam, they will put a Rabbit under your pillow, and\nunder mine, a Bird; then I will turn myself into a Raven. Do you seize\nthe Rabbit, I will take the Bird. Throw your arms about my neck, and\nhold fast to me.\u201d\n\nThey did as he planned, and he flew out through the smoke-hole, crying:\n\u201c K\u2019ch\u012b Jagawk.\u201d\n\nWhen he reached his grandfather, he found his wife there before him; for\nshe had turned herself to Lit\u016dsw\u0101gan, or Thought, the swiftest of all\ntravellers.\n\nThe Eastern Star told Northwest Wind where he might find his father;\nthen he took out his tobacco to fill his pipe.\n\n\u201cOh, Grandpa, give me some of that.\u201d\n\n\u201cNo, my dear, I have had this ever since I was young, and I have but a\nsmall bit left.\u201d\n\n\u201cWell, Grandpa, tell me where I may go to find it.\u201d\n\n\u201cYou cannot get it,\u201d said M\u2019S\u0101rt\u016b. \u201cAway off on that high point where no\ntrees grow, there is a smooth rock. On that rock you will see my\nfootprints. Thence you will see a man looking about him all the time.\nHe guards the spot so faithfully that none may pluck a leaf.\u201d\n\nNorthwest Wind at once set out in search of the tobacco. He found his\ngrandfather\u2019s tracks on the rock, and, gazing eastward, he saw a man\nlooking in every direction. This was a powerful Witch, who had never\nbeen conquered.\n\nEvery time the Witch turned his back, the Wind crept a little nearer,\nuntil he was within a few feet of his enemy. When the Witch turned and\nfound the Wind close behind him, he asked, in a voice so terrible that\nit cracked the rocks, what he wanted there.\n\n\u201cI want a piece of tobacco,\u201d said the Wind.\n\nThe Witch gave him a pinch of dust.\n\n\u201cI don\u2019t want that,\u201d said the Wind. \u201cGive me better.\u201d\n\nAt this the Witch seized him, and tried to throw him over the cliff\nwhere there were piles of bones of his victims. As he threw him off, the\nWind again became a Raven, sailed about in the air, until he got the\ntobacco leaves, then hastened back to his grandfather.\n\nThe Eastern Star was so pleased that he called his old friend the Great\nGrasshopper to come and share with him. \u201cN\u2019j\u0101ls,\u201d the Grasshopper, had\nno pipe but he chewed tobacco.[20]\n\nThe Northwest Wind then set out to visit his father, the great East\nWind, but found that he had been dead so long that the ground had sunk\nfour feet, and the wigwam was all decayed. He called in a loud voice,\nsummoning the Hearts of All the Trees to help him build a wigwam fit for\na mighty chief.\n\nInstantly, thousands of tiny beings appeared, and in a short time a\nwigwam was built, made from the stripped trees, all shining. A tall pole\nwas fastened to the top, with a large nest for his Bird and a basket at\nthe bottom of the pole. Every time the Bird sang, the beautiful\n\u201cW\u0101bap\u201d[21] dropped from his beak into the basket.\n\nThe great East Wind came to life again, and the Northwest Wind\u2019s son was\nnearly a year old. It was hard to get firewood to keep the old man and\nthe child warm, for the snow was very deep and fell nearly every day; so\nthe Northwest Wind said to his father: \u201cI am going to stop this; I\ncannot stand it any longer. I will fight the great North Wind.\u201d\n\nHe bade his wife prepare a year\u2019s supply of snowshoes and moccasins;\nwhen they were ready, he moved with his warriors, the Hearts of All the\nTrees, against the North Wind, whose army was made up of the Tops of the\nTrees.\n\nSnow fell throughout the battle, for K\u2019tai\u016bk (Cold), was the ally of the\nNorth Wind, and the carnage was fearful.\n\nAt last the East Wind told his daughter-in-law to make moccasins and\nsnowshoes for the child, and he gave the little one a partridge feather,\na part of the tail. In an instant, the child received his magic power\nfrom his grandfather. The snow about the camp melted away, and the boy\nfollowed his father. As he shovelled the snow with his feather, it\nmelted. The little boy is the South Wind.\n\nWhen he reached his father, the father was buried in snow, which melted\nat the child\u2019s approach. Thus the North Wind was conquered, and agreed,\nif they would spare his life, to make his visits less frequent and\nshorter. Now the North Wind only comes in winter.\n\n\n\n\nBIG BELLY\n\n\nThere was once an old hunter called \u201cMawquejess,\u201d who always carried a\nkettle to cook his \u201cmichw\u0101gan,\u201d food. When he killed an animal, he would\nbuild a wigwam on the spot, and stay there until the meat was all eaten.\nHe always made it into soup, and called it, \u201cM\u2019Kess\u0101b\u016bm,\u201d my soup. He\nhad eaten soup until his stomach was distended to a monstrous size. From\nthis he took his name of Mawquejess, Big Belly.\n\nOne day he saw a wigwam, and went to the door to see who lived in it. He\nfound a boy, who made friends with him and invited him in; but the door\nwas too small for his big stomach, and the boy was forced to remove the\nside of the wigwam to accommodate it.\n\nThey were very happy together and Mawquejess did nothing but care for\nthe camp, while the boy did the hunting. At last Mawquejess told the boy\nto go to a certain place and kill a white bear.\n\nHis intention was, if he could get a white bear-skin, to marry a chief\u2019s\ndaughter. The chief had offered her to any one who would kill a white\nbear and bring him the skin.[22]\n\nThe boy tried to kill the bear for Mawquejess, but failed; and\nMawquejess began to be discouraged; then he thought: \u201cI will go myself.\u201d\n\nHe found he was too big to get into the canoe. His legs dangled in the\nwater so that he could not paddle, and he had to give it up. When the\nboy landed him, he made up his mind that the first time he could catch\nMawquejess asleep, his friend should be cut open and the soup allowed to\nescape. So he sharpened his stone axe and quickly cut his friend open; a\nlarge stream of soup flowed out. Mawquejess awoke, crying:\n\u201cM\u2019Kess\u0101b\u016bmis\u0101!\u201d (Alas, my soup!) He went on crying and mourning until\nthe boy said: \u201cYou had better stop crying and try to kill the white\nbear.\u201d\n\nNext day they started; he got into the canoe quite easily, and they\nkilled the white bear the first time of trying.\n\n\u201cNow,\u201d said Mawquejess, \u201cwe will go to the village, to the playground\nof the boys. When they come to play, I will try to kill the chief\u2019s son\n[S\u0101gmasis].\u201d\n\nWhen they got there, the boys came to play as usual. Mawquejess, who was\nhiding behind a bush, struck the young chief and killed him at the first\nblow.\n\nThe rest fled. Then he skinned the young chief, and put on the skin\nhimself, thus appearing like a war chief. He called his little friend to\nfollow with the bear-skin. Together they went to the great chief\u2019s\nwigwam, where the bear-skin was accepted, and, according to ancient\ncustom, a big dance was given to celebrate the marriage. It lasted for\nmany nights.\n\n\u201cP\u016bkjinsquess,\u201d the chief\u2019s wife, mistrusted her new son-in-law from the\nfirst, and called the attention of others to him. About this time the\nskin which he had put on began to decay; and soon he stood revealed, no\nyoung chief, but Mawquejess himself.\n\nThey began to kick and beat him. Mawquejess called aloud to his little\nfriend to help him; but his little friend could not help him, for he was\nrunning for his life, crying: \u201cLet me always belong to the woods.\u201d\n\nThus he was changed to a Partridge, and flew away; and his pursuers were\nforced to give up the chase.\n\nPoor Mawquejess too cried out: \u201cLet me be a crow;\u201d and he was. He also\nflew away, saying: \u201cCa, ca, ca!\u201d (I fly away); and so both escaped.\n\n\n\n\nCH\u012aBALOCH, THE SPIRIT OF THE AIR\n\n\nThis being has no body, but head, legs, heart, and wings. He has power\nin his shriek, \u201cw\u0101squ\u012bl\u0101mitt,\u201d to slay any who hear him. His claws are\nso huge and so strong that he can carry off a whole village at once. He\nis sometimes seen in the crotch of a tree, and often flies away with an\nIndian in his clutch. Some have become blind until sunset after seeing\nhim.\n\nIn his fights with witches and kiaw\u0101kq\u2019, he always comes off victorious.\n\nHe never eats or drinks, but lives in a wigwam in mid-air. Once\nW\u016bchowsen, the great Wind Bird, went to visit him, saying: \u201cI have\nalways heard of you, but never had time to visit you; I have always been\ntoo busy.\u201d\n\n\u201cWell,\u201d said Ch\u012bbaloch, \u201cI am glad to see you, and like you very well.\nYou are the first and only visitor I have ever had. I have but one fault\nto find with you. You move your wings a little too fast for me.\nSometimes my wigwam is almost blown to pieces. I have to fly off for\nfear it will fall, and I shall be killed.\u201d\n\n\u201cWell,\u201d said W\u016bchowsen, \u201cthe only thing for you to do, is to move away.\nYou are rather too near me. You are the nearest neighbor that I have. If\nI should stop flapping my wings, my people would all die.\u201d\n\n\u201cI cannot move,\u201d said Ch\u012bbaloch; \u201cthat is the one thing that I cannot\ndo. If you move your wings faster than I like, I will destroy you and\nall your people.\u201d\n\n\u201cHa, ha!\u201d said W\u016bchowsen, \u201cGl\u016bs-k\u0101b\u00e9 will defend me and mine.\u201d\n\n\u201cThere you are mistaken; for Gl\u016bs-k\u0101b\u00e9 dare not fight me, and he does\nnot like your wings any too well himself. He often says that he cannot\ngo out in his canoe to kill wild fowl, because your wings go so fast.\nDid not Gl\u016bs-k\u0101b\u00e9 visit you once and throw you down?\u201d\n\n\u201cYes, he did; but he soon came back and set me up again,\u201d said the Wind\nSpirit.\n\n\n\n\nSTORY OF TEAM, THE MOOSE\n\n\nThere was once a young Indian, a very successful hunter. He always went\noff alone in the Fall, and came back in Spring loaded with fish and\ngame. But once when he was off hunting, he began to feel lonely; and he\nsaid, \u201cI wish I had a partner.\u201d When he went back to his wigwam that\nnight, the fire was burning, supper cooked, and everything ready for\nhim, though he saw no one. When he had eaten, he fell asleep, being very\ntired, and on waking next morning found all in order and breakfast\nprepared. This went on for some days. The seventh night, on his return,\nhe saw a woman in the wigwam. She did not speak, but made all\ncomfortable, and when the work was done made her bed at one side\nopposite his. This lasted all Winter; she seldom or never spoke; but\nwhen Spring came, and it was time for him to return to his village, she\nsaid, \u201cRemember me, always think of me, and do not marry another woman.\u201d\nWhen he got home loaded with skins and meat, his father had chosen a\nwife for him; but he would have nothing to say to her. Next Fall he went\nback into the woods, and as he approached his wigwam, he saw smoke\ncoming out of it, and when he entered, there sat the silent woman with a\nlittle boy at her side. She told him to shake hands with his father.\nUnlike most children, he was born large and strong enough to hunt with\nhis father, and be of much help to him, so that they got a double\nquantity of game, and in the Spring the man went back to the village so\nrich that the Chief wanted him for a son-in-law; but still he remembered\nhis partner\u2019s words, \u201cDo not forget me. Always think of me,\u201d and held\nfirm. On his return to the woods he found a second son. Thus he\nsucceeded in getting more game than ever, and, alas, on going home to\nhis village, he forgot his woodland mate, and, yielding to the\nsolicitations of the Chief, married his daughter. In the Fall he took\nhis wife, his father-in-law, and his own father to the woods with him,\nwhere this time they found not only the two boys but a little girl. The\nnew wife gazed angrily at the mother and children saying, \u201cYou should\nhave told me you had another wife.\u201d \u201cI have not,\u201d answered the man. At\nthese words the mother of the children rose up, saying, \u201cI will leave my\nchildren with you; but you must treat them well. Be kind to them, give\nthem plenty to eat and to wear, for you have abundance of everything.\nNever abuse them,\u201d and she vanished.\n\nThe boys and men went hunting every day, and the little girl was left\nwith her stepmother, who beat her and made a drudge of her. She bore it\npatiently as long as she could, but at last complained to her brothers,\nwho promised to help her. Next day the stepmother took hot ashes from\nthe fire and burnt her in several places, so that she cried aloud. Her\nfather came in and remonstrated, all in vain. Then he consulted the old\ngrandfather, who expressed regret, but advised him to wait patiently,\nthat the woman might become better in time. So the brothers and sister\nresolved to run away; the boys slipped out first, and waited for the\ngirl. When she, too, escaped, they fled; but any one who looked from the\nhut would only have seen three young moose bounding over the snow. When\nthe father came home, he asked for the children; his wife said they had\njust stepped out; but when he went to look for them, he saw the moose\ntracks, and knew what had happened. He at once took his snowshoes and\ntomahawk, and started in pursuit of them. He travelled three days and\nthree nights, always following the tracks. Every night, he saw where\nthey had nibbled the bark from the trees and where they had rested in\nthe snow. On the fourth day he came to a clearing where four moose were\nfeeding, and he knew the children had found their mother. He struck his\naxe into a tree and hung his snowshoes on it, then went to her and\npleaded to be allowed to go with them; so she turned him into a moose,\nand they journeyed away together. Meantime, his old father at home\nmissed his son and his grandchildren, and went to look for them. He\ntravelled three days and three nights, as his son had done, following\nthe foot-prints and the tracks until, towards the fourth night, he saw\nthe tomahawk in the tree, with the snowshoes hanging on it, recognized\nthem as his son\u2019s, saw that now there were the marks of _five_ moose in\nthe snow instead of three, and knew that he had come too late. He took\ndown the axe and snowshoes, and went sadly home to tell the story.\n\nThese were the parents of all the moose that we see now. In old times\nthe Indians used to turn into animals in this way.\n\n\n\n\nTHE SNAKE AND THE PORCUPINE\n\n\nThere were once two men who lived a long way apart: one was poor and had\nnothing but his hunting-grounds; the other was rich, but he wanted the\npoor man\u2019s land. The poor man\u2019s poohegan, or attendant spirit, was a\nsnake; the rich man\u2019s poohegan was a porcupine.\n\nThe Porcupine went to visit the Snake; but at first the Snake refused to\nlet him in, saying: \u201cI will stick my arrow into you.\u201d\n\nThe Porcupine said: \u201cThen I will stab you with my sword.\u201d\n\nThe Snake said: \u201cMy arrow has only one barb; but it is a good one.\u201d And\nhe ran out his tongue to show the barb.\n\nThe Porcupine said: \u201cMy tail is full of swords; but I will guard them\nvery carefully if you will let me come in, for my home is far away.\u201d\n\nThe Snake said: \u201cI am here with my children, and am very poor. It is not\nfor the rich to come to the poor for help; but rather for the poor man\nto visit the rich. If one of my children were to go to your house, you\nwould kill him. Then why do you come here?\u201d\n\nHowever, the Porcupine promised so fairly that the Snake at last let him\nin. All went well at first; but in the morning the Porcupine began to\nquarrel, killed the whole Snake family, and took possession of their\nland.[23]\n\n\n\n\nWHY THE RABBIT\u2019S NOSE IS SPLIT\n\n\nIn old times the Red Headed Woodpecker once went to visit the Rabbit. He\nsaw the Rabbit was very poor, and had nothing to eat, so he thought he\nwould help him out. He took a green withe, tied it round his waist, and\nsaid: \u201cNow I will catch some eels.\u201d\n\nHe went to the side of a rotten tree, and pick, pick; Rabbit saw him\npull out eel after eel,[24] and string them on a stick. When the stick\nwas full, he brought them to camp and cooked them. When they were\ncooked, he and Rabbit ate supper, and felt happy. Then the Woodpecker\ntook his leave, inviting Rabbit to return the visit soon.\n\nIn about three weeks Rabbit thought it was time he should accept this\ninvitation, so he went to see Woodpecker. When he got there he said: \u201cMy\nturn now to get supper;\u201d for he thought he could catch eels just as\nWoodpecker did.\n\nHe tied a withe about him, went to a tree, and pick, pick, pick, harder,\nthen so hard that his nose was flattened and his lip split; but he\ncaught no eels.\n\nOld man Turtle was visiting Woodpecker at this same time. He took pity\non Rabbit, tied the withe round his own body, and dived down into the\nlake, coming up with a back-load of eels.\n\nRabbit thought: \u201cWell, I can do that. Turtle is a very good old fellow,\nI guess I will ask him to come over to see me.\u201d So he said: \u201cCome to see\nme where I live.\u201d\n\nOld man Turtle went to see Rabbit; but he is such a slow traveller, that\nwhen Rabbit saw him coming, he thought, \u201cI shall have plenty of time to\nget the eels ready,\u201d so he tied the withe round him, and jumped into the\nwater, but every time he jumped, he bounced right back. He could not\ndive at all.\n\nTurtle saw him, went to the lake. Rabbit said: \u201cI have tried and tried;\nbut I can\u2019t get eels. I guess there are none here.\u201d\n\nThe Turtle knew what the trouble was; but he only said: \u201cLet me have\nthe withe;\u201d and in no time he brought up a back-load. They went home and\ncooked them; and Rabbit liked Turtle so well that they were good friends\nforever after.[25]\n\n\n\n\nSTORY OF THE SQUIRREL\n\n\nWhen great Gl\u016bskap, lord of men and beasts, had brought order out of the\nchaos in which the world was at the beginning, he called together the\nanimals and assigned to each the position he should hold in the future.\nTo some he gave the water, to others the land, and to others wings to\nfly through the air. Over each tribe he appointed a leader called K\u2019ch\u012b,\nthe Great One. These could command help or power from others called\ntheir poohegans.\n\nIn some animals Gl\u016bskap found a fierceness, which, when combined with\nsize and strength, would make them dangerous for Indians to encounter.\nTo this class belonged M\u012bko, the Squirrel,--at that time as large as a\nwolf.\n\nTherefore Gl\u016bskap stroked him on the back until he became the size that\nhe now is.\n\nThis humbled the proud M\u012bko, who had been so vain of his appearance, and\nso boastful of his strength, that he would scratch down the trees which\nhappened to be in his way.\n\nBut, as a compensation, Gl\u016bskap told him that he could now climb higher\nand travel faster than before, besides which he could at times have\nwings to suit the situation.\n\nM\u012bko was comforted, and concluded to travel and become acquainted with\nthe world of Nature.\n\n\u201cK\u2019ch\u012b Meg\u016bsawess,\u201d the Martin, taught him the language of other\nanimals, to enable him to keep out of danger, and M\u016binsq\u2019, Mistress\nBear, Gl\u016bskap\u2019s adopted grandmother, gave him the Law, with much good\nadvice; for all Bears are wise, and she was wisest of them all. She\nsaid:--\n\n\u201cYou must never speak in praise of yourself, but pay attention to all\nthat is said to you.\n\n\u201cAlways control your temper; and, when enraged, say, _chim, chim,\nchim_,[26] over and over, as fast as you can, until your anger is over.\n\n\u201cThe Law is: \u2018Mind your own business.\u2019\n\n\u201cDo this and you will be wise and wealthy.\u201d\n\nM\u012bko then started out on his travels, but had not gone far when he\nremembered a bird named \u201cLaffy Latwin,\u201d[27] whose home in a tall\nbirch-tree was his especial envy.\n\nHe said to himself: \u201cNow is my chance to try the wings of \u2018Set-c\u0101to,\u2019\nthe Flying Squirrel,\u201d and at once he half climbed, half flew, up the\ntree, where he found Laffy Latwin still at home.\n\nLaffy Latwin was always good-natured; and all the little birds as well\nas insects visited his abode. The little worms too would crawl up the\nbirch-tree to see their friend. He sang the vesper song every night, as\na signal to them all to go to sleep. When he sings:\n\n    \u201cWoffy[28] Latwin, Laffy Latwin, wick\u012b\u016bt\u016bwit,\u201d\n\nhe shuts his eyes for the night; and all the little birds are silent\nuntil his voice is again heard in the morning, when all awake, for they\nknow that another day has dawned.\n\nWhen M\u012bko, who now styled himself Set-c\u0101to, reached the home of Laffy\nLatwin, he said:--\n\n\u201cHow long have you lived in this tree?\u201d\n\n\u201cEver since your great grandfather, \u2018K\u2019ch\u012b M\u016bsos,\u2019 was born in that\nhollow cedar-tree which you just left,\u201d replied Laffy Latwin.\n\n\u201cHow long do you mean to stay here?\u201d\n\n\u201cAs long as this tree lasts. When this one is gone, I will move to\nanother,\u201d replied Laffy Latwin.\n\nBut M\u012bko, or Set-c\u0101to, as we must now call him, had never before been so\nhigh above the ground; and though the home of Laffy Latwin was cold and\ndamp, he was greatly pleased with the situation, and wished to build a\nhouse for himself in the very same hole, so he said:\n\n\u201cMy friend, you have lived here long enough. You had better move out,\nand let me move in.\u201d\n\nLaffy Latwin was troubled, yet he answered in his usual good-natured\nway:--\n\n\u201cM\u2019Quensis [my grandchild], I cannot go. If I were to move away, all my\nfriends would miss me. They could not hear my song as well from any\nother tree. Besides, you are young, and are nimbler than I; you can\nbuild your house almost anywhere.\u201d\n\nThis opposition only made Set-c\u0101to more desirous of carrying out his\npurpose. The old spirit of dominion was aroused within him, and though\nhis great strength was gone, his teeth were unchanged. He at once began\nto gnaw off the limb on which Laffy Latwin\u2019s house stood.\n\nOn a neighboring tree lived a tribe of \u201c\u0100m-wessok,\u201d or Hornets, all\nwarriors, male and female alike. They were always in training; and their\nglittering armor, with its yellow stripes, shone in the sunlight like\ntiny sparks, as they flew among the leaves.\n\nThey had been watching the movements of Set-c\u0101to all the morning, and\nwhen they saw that he meant mischief, the whole tribe, as one man,\ndarted from their tree, alighting on his back, and stinging him until he\nfell to the ground almost dead.\n\nThe news soon spread throughout the Squirrel tribe; the flying, the\ngray, the striped, and the red squirrels hastened to his rescue. They\nheld a council, and resolved that Laffy Latwin must be removed, even if\nthey had to kill him.\n\nThey all marched to the foot of the birch-tree, but found that the only\nway to reach him was from the trunk of the tree. Meantime the Hornets\nhad summoned their friends, the Black Flies, the Midges, and\nMosquitoes.\n\nWhen the chief of the Squirrels gave orders for the battle to begin, his\nfollowers made a rush for the tree, but only a few could go up at once;\nand the Bees, Flies, and Midges would strike them with sharp spears,\nforcing the Squirrels to retreat before they were half-way up.\n\nThus the battle went on until sunset. Up to this time, Laffy Latwin had\nbeen absolutely silent; he knew his situation, and saw all that was\ngoing on; but he had faith that his little warriors would defend him, so\nhe sang his evening song as usual:--\n\n    \u201cWoffy Latwin, Laffy Latwin, wick\u012b\u016bt\u016bwit.\u201d\n\nInstantly both armies obeyed the call, and went to their respective\nwigwams to rest for the night.\n\nNext day, the leaders decided to fight again. The Squirrel chief said to\nhis men: \u201cWe must be more cautious and less fierce. If we can only touch\nLaffy Latwin before he sings \u2018Woffy Latwin,\u2019 we shall win; but if we\nfail to reach him before then, we may as well yield.\u201d\n\nBoth armies fought more desperately than ever. The Flies had to sharpen\ntheir spears, and many were killed on both sides; yet the battle went on\nall that day.\n\nThe Squirrels found it impossible to reach the home of Laffy Latwin, and\nwhen the evening song:--\n\n    \u201cWoffy Latwin, Laffy Latwin, wicklootoowit,\u201d\n\nwas again heard, they agreed to retire and leave him forever in peace.\n\nM\u012bko now had time for reflection; and remembered that he had already\nbroken the Law, as given him by M\u016binsq\u2019, the old Law Maker. This was a\nbad beginning for getting wealthy and wise.\n\nWhen his wounds were healed, he once more set out on his travels, hoping\nto gain from the experiences he had had as Set-c\u0101to.\n\nHe met many of his tribe, hard at work, and content with their changed\ncondition; but he could not rest until he reached the Witch Mountain,\nthe home of Mawquejess, the Great Eater, of whom M\u016binsq\u2019 had told him.\nOn reaching it, he noticed a number of narrow paths, trodden by many\nfeet; yet seeing no one, and night coming on, he crawled into a hollow\ncedar which stood near a large rock, and soon fell asleep.\n\nHe was awakened by a loud purring; and he knew that \u201cAln\u016bset,\u201d the Black\nCat, must be camping close by. At first M\u012bko was frightened; but his\nfear soon turned to wonder what could bring Aln\u016bset, so near to the home\nof his greatest enemy; for though Ch\u012b-gau-gawk, the Great Crow, steals\nthe game from Black Cat\u2019s \u201cket\u012bgnul,\u201d or wooden dead-fall trap, yet\nMawquejess is worse, for he watches until the wigwam is empty, then\nenters and eats all he can find, for his appetite is never satisfied.\n\nM\u012bko\u2019s curiosity was aroused; and, the morning being cloudy, and his\nlodgings very comfortable, he decided to stay where he was and watch the\ncourse of events.\n\nSoon he saw that Aln\u016bset had a friend with him, \u201cM\u0101tigwess,\u201d the Rabbit,\na hunter of the same metal; and he heard Black Cat say:\n\n\u201cThis will be a good day for hunting. Stormy days are best for such\nwork.\u201d\n\nM\u0101tigwess replied: \u201cI will set the trap. You can go up the mountain and\nhunt for big game.\u201d\n\nM\u012bko thought to himself: \u201cI can see them from here, no matter where they\ngo. It is growing too cold to venture out.\u201d He watched their movements,\nand saw that they must be very hungry, and game scarce.\n\nAt last Aln\u016bset came across a big Bear, at which he aimed; but the\nFrost had got into his bow, it snapped and broke as he bent it.\n\nThe Bear was too big for him to attack with his tomahawk, so he returned\ndiscouraged to the Big Rock.\n\nThis Rock resembled a human face, and the moss which grew on the top\nlooked like long hair, so M\u012bko was not surprised to hear Aln\u016bset address\nit as: \u201cM\u016bs m\u012b,\u201d my grandfather.\n\n\u201cM\u016bs m\u012b, if you have any pity for your grandchildren, sing one of your\nmagic songs to call the animals together.\u201d\n\nAt this the stony old man began to sing, and Birds, Moose, Deer, and\nBear, as well as friend M\u0101tigwess, came hurrying to hear the song.\n\nNow M\u0101tigwess is unlike Aln\u016bset in that he carries two bows and three\nsets of arrows; and he at once began his deadly work, killing Moose,\nDeer, and Bear on every hand, Aln\u016bset dragging them to his camp as\nquickly as he could.\n\nThe hungry and mischievous Mawquejess was watching him, and when Aln\u016bset\nwent for a fresh load, he would rush in and eat until he was over-full.\n\nM\u012bko, from his hole in the tree, saw this thief at work; but he dared\nsay nothing, and there were so many dead animals piled together that he\nthought the two hunters would never miss what Mawquejess ate.\n\nBut Mawquejess could not be content to let well enough alone. He went up\nto the Rock in his turn, and, imitating the voice of Aln\u016bset, said:--\n\n\u201cM\u016bs m\u012b, if you feel a spark of pity for your children, you will sing a\nsong and call your animals together.\u201d\n\nSo the old man again broke into song, and all the animals that lay dead,\nslain by M\u0101tigwess, came to life and stood around the Rock, now\nlistening to his weird song. When the song ceased, each went his way\nonce more.\n\nWhen Aln\u016bset and M\u0101tigwess reached the wigwam, they found all their game\ngone, and saw nothing but tracks and prints of large moccasins. By this\nthey knew that this was one of the tricks of Mawquejess.\n\nThey were disgusted and depressed; but they cooked and ate what bones\nand bits were left from the previous day. Night coming on, they did not\nhear the songs of the goblins as usual, nothing but the howl of wolves\nfollowing the bloody tracks.\n\nNext morning M\u0101tigwess, who was the more powerful in magic of the two,\nsaid to Aln\u016bset: \u201cI had a dream last night, and our Grandfather of the\nMountain[29] told me that Mawquejess had tricked him into singing, and\nalso said: \u2018Mawquejess will visit your camp to-day while you are away!\u2019\u201d\n\n\u201cVery well,\u201d said Aln\u016bset, \u201cthen he will not go away. We will fight, and\nkill him if we can.\u201d\n\n\u201cNo, do you go down the river and look to the trap,\u201d said M\u0101tigwess. \u201cIf\nthere should be any danger, you will hear from me.\u201d\n\nSo Aln\u016bset set out at once; and M\u0101tigwess cut down a hollow tree, the\nvery one in which M\u012bko lay, and placed it on the fire for a backlog. He\nthen put out the fire, so that there should be no smoke from the wigwam,\nand it might seem deserted. He also set a snare for Mawquejess, by\nbending down two large tree forks and fastening them in place with a\ntwisted birch withe.\n\nThis done, he crawled into the hollow log to await the coming of\nMawquejess. Poor M\u012bko, meantime, had taken refuge under some old roots.\n\nThey had not long to wait for Mawquejess, who was soon heard stealing\ncautiously along, examining everything suspiciously. He spied M\u012bko, and\nasked him where the two hunters were; but M\u012bko replied: \u201cI saw them\nearly this morning going towards the mountain.\u201d\n\nHe did not add, as he might truthfully have done: \u201cOne of them came\nback, hoping to catch you.\u201d\n\nMawquejess directed M\u012bko to keep watch, and warn him if he saw them\nreturning. He then put his head into the wigwam, saw that the fire had\ngone out, and that there was only some dried meat hanging on poles; but\nthis gave him courage to enter, for his appetite was keen this cold\nmorning.\n\nHe found that his body was too big to go through the small door of the\nwigwam, so he took the hatchet which he always carries and began to chop\na larger entrance. In cutting away the sticks, he cut the withes that\nfastened the snare, thus making it useless.\n\nThis alarmed M\u0101tigwess, who had hoped to see him caught in the snare,\nand then kill him with his bow and arrow.\n\nAfter working for several hours, Mawquejess got into the wigwam, seized\nthe fattest piece of venison, and making a fire, began to cook it.\n\nM\u0101tigwess in the hollow log could bear the heat no longer. When his long\ntail began to scorch, he sprang out. Mawquejess caught him by the tail,\nand strove to hold him in the fire; but the tail broke off close to the\nbody,[30] and M\u0101tigwess escaped.\n\nHe found M\u012bko, and sent him to tell Aln\u016bset that Mawquejess was in the\nwigwam devouring everything. He was nearly maddened by the loss of his\ndear tail, and he sang a magic song with great energy:--\n\n    \u201cBem yak, bem yak, bem yak--bes\u2019m etch k\u012bmek ipp S\u0101netch.\u201d[31]\n\nThis song caused a sudden snow squall, and the woods were filled with\nthe flakes. Each flake concealed a tiny Rabbit, to whom their chief\ncried out:--\n\n\u201cYoat elguen\u201d (Come this way).\n\nAll the snowflakes came toward M\u0101tigwess, and by the time Aln\u016bset\nreached the wigwam, the little Rabbits were stabbing and choking\nMawquejess, who began to beg for his life, when he felt them cut off his\nfeet.\n\nThe Rabbit chief said: \u201cYes, he is harmless now; we will spare his\nlife,\u201d and turning to Aln\u016bset, he asked what should be done with him.\n\nAln\u016bset advised them to bind him with strong withes, and tie him to the\ncorner of the wigwam, adding, loud enough for Mawquejess to hear:\n\n\u201cHe will make good bait for our traps when we need to use him;\u201d and\nAln\u016bset purred, with long purrs, and swinging his tail from side to\nside, looked out of the corners of his eyes, expecting the others to\nenjoy what he thought a very good joke; but M\u0101tigwess, with the loss of\nhis tail, was in no humor for joking.\n\nHe sang his song for the snowflakes to disappear, and the snow at once\nceased to fall.\n\nThe game had all been frightened away, and nothing was to be heard but\nthe howl of wolves.\n\nM\u0101tigwess was very hungry, and the young tender leaf shoots, offered by\nM\u012bko from his storehouse, did not satisfy him.\n\nThe weather had grown very cold; all the brooks were frozen over, and as\nthe Beaver, Muskrat, and other water animals could not come out to\nfeed, their traps were useless, therefore Aln\u016bset\u2019s joke fell short of\nthe mark.\n\nM\u012bko did not care for meat himself; but he suggested to the friends:\n\u201cYou might kill Mawquejess and catch a Wolf, with his carcass for bait.\u201d\n\nM\u0101tigwess raised his tomahawk to strike; but Mawquejess cried out:--\n\n\u201cDon\u2019t kill me! Take me to the lake, and cut six big holes in the ice. I\nmay help you yet.\u201d\n\nHis enemies thought that he might be a good fisherman; and as they knew\nnothing about such work, they decided to try his plan.\n\nThey put him on a toboggan, hauled him to the lake, and cut the six\nholes, as he ordered. Then Mawquejess began to whistle and call. Foam\nand bubbles could be seen through the holes in the ice, and soon Ki\u016bnik,\nthe Otters, poked out their heads, holding fish in their mouths.\n\nAln\u016bset and M\u0101tigwess now thought better of their foe, and when they had\nenough fish, they loaded the toboggan and hauled it back to the wigwam,\nwith Mawquejess on top. They all spent a very happy evening together,\nand became good friends, although M\u0101tigwess could never again have a\nlong tail. When the weather grew warmer, M\u012bko grew tired of hearing them\ntell of their hair-breadth adventures, and escapes from witches and\ngoblins.\n\nHe left them, congratulating himself that this time he had broken no\nlaw, quite forgetting that he had failed to \u201cmind his own business\u201d and\nhad incurred the ill-will of Mawquejess.\n\nThe trees were putting forth buds, the young roots of the seedlings were\nsweet and tender, and M\u012bko, having laid off his heaviest fur coat,\nlooked often in little pools of water left by the spring rains.\n\nHe never felt better in his life; and when he came upon a council held\nby m\u2019t\u00e9\u016blins, or animals having magic powers, he entered the circle\nunnoticed, feeling himself the equal of any of them.\n\nThe council had met to consider how they might destroy \u201cK\u2019ch\u012b Molsom,\u201d\nthe Great Wolf, who lived with the Great Bat, \u201cK\u2019ch\u012b Medsk\u2019weges,\u201d on a\nlarge island which none dared visit for fear of the Great Wolf. M\u012bko\nremembered the Wolf as an old enemy, and hoped to see him slain. He\nchattered approval to all that was said. On one occasion, all the\nwitches met in council to see what they could do to conquer the Wolf;\nhow they might contrive to kill him.\n\nK\u2019ch\u012b Qu\u0113nocktsh, the Big Turtle, made the first speech. Said he: \u201cThe\nonly way we can kill K\u2019ch\u012b Molsom is to dig a passage under the water to\nthe island, then dig a big hole right under his wigwam, fill the hole\nwith sharp sticks and stones; then we will dig out the rest of the\nground. The wigwam will fall, and the Great Wolf will be dashed in\npieces on the sticks and stones.\u201d\n\nThe witches thought this idea a good one, but felt that the Wolf had\nsuch power that whoever stepped upon the island would perish.\n\nK\u2019ch\u012b At\u014dsis, the Great Snake, spoke next: \u201cMy opinion,\u201d said he, \u201cis\nthat all the witches who can fly should go there some dark night, fly\ndown the smokehole, bind him with strong withes before he can fight, and\nbring him out where all may enjoy seeing him put to death.\u201d\n\nNext spoke the Alligator: \u201cThe only way to kill the Great Wolf is to lie\nin wait for him on the other island. When he is hungry, he will go there\nto catch seals; and we will send our best warriors and capture him\nalive.\u201d\n\nNow the Wolf knew that they had evil designs upon him, and sent the Bat\nto watch, and to listen to what they had to say, and so was prepared for\nthem.\n\nThe chief of the witches, a hairless bear, then said: \u201cI have listened\nto all your plans, and think all good; but the first one suits me best.\nWe will get \u2018K\u2019ch\u012b P\u0101-p\u0101-k\u0101-qu\u0101-h\u0101,\u2019 the Great Woodpecker, and Moskwe,\nthe Wood Worm, to do the work.\u201d\n\nSo all the woodpeckers and all the worms set to work to dig the passage.\n\nThe Great Wolf knew all that was going on, and sent the Bat every night\nto see what progress they made.\n\nHe ordered his troops, the Ants, to prepare flint and punk,\nCh\u016b-g\u0101-g\u0101-s\u012bq\u2019,--yellow rotten wood found in hollow trees.[32]\n\nThe Ants went to work and filled the wigwam with punk, the Bat,\nmeantime, going every few moments to watch the enemy\u2019s progress. At last\nhe said that they had landed on the island.\n\nThe Wolf ordered everything to be removed from the wigwam,--his bows,\narrows, stone axes, spears, pipes, and the paddles of his great stone\ncanoe,--then he took the flint and set fire to the punk inside the\nwigwam.\n\nThe Ants had also filled the mouth of the passage on the mainland with\npunk, so that all the witches who went to see the killing of K\u2019ch\u012b\nMolsom might not escape but perish.\n\nWhen all was ready, Woodpecker gave the signal, and the wigwam fell into\nthe hole, to be sure; but the blaze soon filled the passage and all\ntheir hiding-places with fire and smoke.\n\nThe witches, vainly hoping to escape, ran to the mouth of the passage on\nthe mainland, but found it also stopped with fire; and they were all\nburned to death.[33]\n\nK\u2019ch\u012b Molsom took all his men and his goods in his stone canoe, and went\nto the next island, where they built a strong wigwam and thenceforth\nlived, more powerful and more to be dreaded than before, fighting many\nbattles with the spirits of the water.\n\n\n\n\nWAWB\u0100BAN, THE NORTHERN LIGHTS\n\n\nThere once lived an old chief, called \u201cM\u2019S\u016brt\u016b,\u201d or the Morning Star. He\nhad an only son, so unlike all the other boys of the tribe as to\ndistress the old chief. He would not stay with the others or play with\nthem, but, taking his bow and arrows, would leave home, going towards\nthe north, and stay away many days at a time.\n\nWhen he came home, his relations would ask him where he had been; but he\nmade no answer.\n\nAt last the old chief said to his wife: \u201cThe boy must be watched. I will\nfollow him.\u201d\n\nSo Morning Star kept in the boy\u2019s trail, and travelled for a long time.\nSuddenly his eyes closed, and he could not hear. He had a strange\nsensation, and then knew nothing until his eyes opened in an unknown and\nbrightly lighted land. There were neither sun, moon, nor stars; but the\nland was illumined by a singular light.\n\nHe saw human beings very unlike his own people. They gathered about him,\nand tried to talk with him; but he could not understand their language.\nHe knew not where to go nor what to do. He was well treated by this\nmarvellous tribe of Indians; he watched their games, and was attracted\nby a wonderful game of ball which seemed to change the light to all the\ncolors of the rainbow,--colors which he had never seen before. The\nplayers all seemed to have lights on their heads, and they wore curious\ngirdles, called \u201cMemquon,\u201d or Rainbow belts.\n\nAfter a few days, an old man came to him, and spoke to him in his own\ntongue, asking if he knew where he was. He answered: \u201cNo.\u201d\n\nThe old man then said: \u201cYou are in the land of Northern Lights. I came\nhere many years ago. I was the only one here from the \u2018Lower Country,\u2019\nas we call it; but now there is a boy who visits us every few days.\u201d\n\nAt this, the chief inquired how the old man got there, what way he came.\n\nThe old man said: \u201cI followed the path called \u2018Ketag\u016bsw\u014dt,\u2019 or \u2018the\nSpirits\u2019 Path\u2019 (the Milky Way).\u201d\n\n\u201cThat must be the same path I took,\u201d said the chief. \u201cDid you have a\nstrange feeling, as if you had lost all knowledge, while you travelled?\u201d\n\n\u201cYes,\u201d said the old man; \u201cI could not see nor hear.\u201d\n\n\u201cThen you did come by the same path. Can you tell me how I may return\nhome again?\u201d\n\nThe old man said: \u201cThe Chief of the Northern Lights will send you home,\nfriend.\u201d\n\n\u201cWell, can you tell me where or when I may see my son? The boy who\nvisits you is mine.\u201d\n\nThe old man said: \u201cYou will see him playing ball, if you watch.\u201d\n\nMorning Star was very glad to hear this, and a few moments later, a man\nwent around to the wigwams, telling all to go and have a game of ball.\n\nThe old chief went with the rest; when the game began, he saw many most\nbeautiful colors on the playground. The old man asked him if he saw his\nson among the players, and he said that he did. \u201cThe one with the\nbrightest light on his head is my son.\u201d\n\nThen they went to the Chief of the Northern Lights, and the old man\nsaid: \u201cThe Chief of the Lower Country wishes to go home, and he also\nwants his son.\u201d\n\nThe chief asked him to stay a few days longer; but he longed to go home,\nso the Chief of the Northern Lights called together his tribe to take\nleave of M\u2019S\u016brt\u016b and his son, and ordered two great birds to carry them\nhome. As they travelled over the Milky Way, Morning Star had the same\nstrange sensation as before, and when he came to his senses, he found\nhimself at his own door. His wife rejoiced to see him; for when the boy\nhad told her that his father was safe, she had not heeded him, but\nfeared that he was lost.\n\n\n\n\nTHE WOOD WORM\u2019S STORY, SHOWING WHY THE RAVEN\u2019S FEATHERS ARE BLACK\n\n\nLong years ago, in a hollow tree dwelt Mosique, the Wood Worm. Mosique\nis a clever builder, and he builds wigwams for many of his neighbors.\nMoreover, he is a very proud old man, so that he was anything but\npleased when \u201cH\u016bhuss,\u201d the Hen Hawk, came to visit him, saying: \u201cLet me\nin, M\u016bsm\u012b [my grandfather]. I have a little bird here for you.\u201d\n\nNow Mosique hated the Hawk, because only a short time before he had\nkilled one of his best friends, little \u201cGetchk\u012b-k\u012b-l\u0101ssis,\u201d the\nChickadeedee, and now he came back to taunt Mosique with the fact.\n\n\u201cCome, M\u016bsm\u012b, let me in.\u201d\n\nMosique is a skilful fighter when he is angry; but the powerful Hawk\nnever believed that that old worm could hurt anything. His house opened\njust wide enough for H\u016bhuss to put in his head; but it opened into a\nlarge room where he kept his tools of every kind.\n\nThe Little Birds were glad to see the Hawk go to Mosique\u2019s house, for\nthey trusted in the Worm\u2019s cunning.\n\n\u201cCome, M\u016bsm\u012b, let me in. I want you to build me a good warm house. I\nwill pay you well for it.\u201d\n\n\u201cYes,\u201d says Mosique, \u201cI will build a house for my grandchildren in your\nold skull.\u201d\n\nThe Hawk laughed at him, and spat on him.\n\n\u201cYou build a house in my skull, indeed,\u201d said he. \u201cWell, let me see what\nyou can do,\u201d and he poked his head a little farther in.\n\nMosique strapped his auger to the top of his pate, turned and twisted,\nand screwed himself around into Hawk\u2019s head. He soon penetrated his\nskull, and H\u016bhuss shrieked aloud for help, but no help came. He flew up\nin agony; he flew so high that he almost reached the blue sky. All the\nbirds, and all the animals, looked at him, but none knew what would\nbecome of him.\n\nMosique kept twisting himself around, and soon reached the Hawk\u2019s brain.\nOf course, the Hawk could not endure this, and he fell heavily to the\nground, carrying Mosique with him.\n\nThen all the birds flocked together, and had a feast which lasted many\ndays, singing songs, and dancing, and shaking hands with Mosique in\ntoken of their gratitude and joy. The Little Ants also came to attend\nthis great feast; and after it was over, Mosique made a long speech,\nbidding them: \u201cTell all the Hawks, his brothers, his sisters, his sons,\nand his daughters, to insult me no more. If they do, they must share the\nsame fate as their chief. You see him now dead. I will give his skull to\nour neighbors, the ants, for their wigwam, and also a part of his old\ncarcass for food.\u201d\n\nThe ants ran hastily into Hawk\u2019s skull, and fed upon his brain.\n\n\u201cNow,\u201d added Mosique, \u201cmy dear Little Birds, you know I have lived in my\nwigwam for a long time. I have never troubled any one, and no one has\ntroubled me. This is the first one who ever came to disturb me. Here he\nlies. Tell your leader, the great Woodpecker, my worst enemy,[34] what I\nsay. I have never talked so much before in all my life; but do you tell\nhim that if he ever comes to try to destroy my wigwam, I will serve him\nthe same as that Hawk. I do not wish to defy him myself, but you can\ntell him for me.\u201d\n\nThe Little Birds sewed leaves together, placed the Honorable Mosique on\nthem, raised him high in air, and sang songs of rejoicing over him:--\n\n\u201cK\u2019m\u016bs\u2019m S\u2019n n\u0101h\u0101 kisi n\u0101h\u0101h\u0101t \u014d-usell enn\u012bt k\u012blon wecki w\u2019litt hass\u016bl\nt\u012bgiqu\u2019,\u201d or \u201cour Grandfather Wood Worm has killed H\u016bhuss. This is what\nmakes us so happy.\u201d\n\nThen they flew up almost to the sky, came down again, left Mosique in\nhis wigwam and presented him with a tiny W\u012bs\u016bw\u012bgesisl, or Little Yellow\nBird,--one of their best singers,--to be his comrade and musician.\n\nEvery morning she sings: \u201c\u0112tuch \u016blin\u0101gusk t\u012bke \u016bspesswin!\u201d (Oh, what a\nlovely, bright morning! Awake, all ye who sleep!)\n\nThis delighted Mosique.\n\nTime passed, and the Raven fancied the looks of Mosique\u2019s Singer, with\nher bright yellow feathers shining like gold. He said: \u201cThere is but one\nway to get the beautiful Singer, and that is to kill Mosique.\n\n\u201cBut that is well-nigh impossible. While he is in his wigwam, no living\ncreature can destroy him. There is but one way to kill him; but it is a\nsure way, I never knew it to fail. I have a piece of punk which my\ngrandfather, the White Otter, gave me, that will do the work.\u201d\n\nSo next morning, it being very windy, he went to the foot of the big\ntree where Mosique lived, put the punk close against the tree, set it on\nfire, and it soon blazed up. Now this was sure death to Mosique.\n\n     (Here part of the story seems to be missing, telling how the Worm\n     escaped this \u201csure death,\u201d but I have been unable to recover it, in\n     spite of all my efforts.--A. L. A.)\n\nMosique, in his rage, gathered together all the Little Birds, and told\nhis sad story to them.\n\n\u201cThat White Bird,\u201d said he, \u201chas not treated me right; but I will have\nmy revenge. I want you to take me where he lives.\u201d\n\n\u201cWe will take you to his wigwam, Grandpa,\u201d said the Little Birds. So\nthey sewed the leaves together again,[35] and placing Mosique on them,\nflew off with him. They soon reached the residence of Raven. Mosique\nhad with him a lot of \u201ctebequenignel,\u201d or Indian birch-bark torches. The\nLittle Birds set him down within a few feet of the tall spruce-tree\nwhere the Raven lived. Now the Raven is an early riser, and goes to bed\nequally early; so, as soon as it was dark, Mosique crawled up the tree,\nand soon came to Raven\u2019s door. He slipped in without being seen or\nheard, and bound Raven while he slept. Then he easily made his way down\nagain, lighted his torches, and soon had the tree in flames. When the\nfire reached the Raven, he awaked and cried out: \u201cOh, Mosique, have pity\non me, and untie me!\u201d but Mosique heeded him not.\n\nThese bark torches always make a dense smoke, which soon blackened the\nRaven. As the flames drew nearer, the cords which bound the Raven were\nburned away, or snapped asunder, and he escaped uninjured. But his\nbeauty was gone forever. Up to this time, he was a snow-white bird; but\never since he has been as black as charcoal, down to this very day.\n\nTHE END.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\n_Messrs. Roberts Brothers\u2019 Publications._\n\nFAR FROM TO-DAY.\n\nA Volume of Stories.\n\nBY GERTRUDE HALL,\n\n_16mo. Cloth. Price, $1.00_.\n\n\nThese stories are marked with originality and power. The titles are as\nfollows: viz., Tristiane, The Sons of Philemon, Servirol, Sylvanus,\nTheodolind, Shepherds.\n\n     Miss Hall has put together here a set of gracefully written\n     tales,--tales of long ago. They have an old-world medi\u00e6val feeling\n     about them, soft with intervening distance, like the light upon\n     some feudal castle wall, seen through the openings of the forest. A\n     refined fancy and many an artistic touch has been spent upon the\n     composition with good result.--_London Bookseller._\n\n     \u201cAlthough these six stories are dreams of the misty past, their\n     morals have a most direct bearing on the present. An author who has\n     the soul to conceive such stories is worthy to rank among the\n     highest. One of our best literary critics, Mrs. Louise Chandler\n     Moulton, says: \u2018I think it is a work of real genius, Homeric in its\n     simplicity, and beautiful exceedingly.\u2019\u201d\n\n     Mrs. Harriet Prescott Spofford, in the _Newburyport Herald_:--\n\n     \u201cA volume giving evidence of surprising genius is a collection of\n     six tales by Gertrude Hall, called \u2018Far from To-day.\u2019 I recall no\n     stories at once so powerful and subtle as these. Their literary\n     charm is complete, their range of learning is vast, and their human\n     interest is intense. \u2018Tristiane,\u2019 the first one, is as brilliant\n     and ingenious, to say the least, as the best chapter of Arthur\n     Hardy\u2019s \u2018Passe Rose;\u2019 \u2018Sylvanus\u2019 tells a heart-breaking tale, full\n     of wild delight in hills and winds and skies, full of pathos and\n     poetry; in \u2018The Sons of Philemon\u2019 the Greek spirit is perfect, the\n     story absolutely beautiful; \u2018Theodolind,\u2019 again, repeats the Norse\n     life to the echo, even to the very measure of the runes; and \u2018The\n     Shepherds\u2019 gives another reading to the meaning of \u2018The Statue and\n     the Bust.\u2019 Portions of these stories are told with an almost\n     archaic simplicity, while other portions mount on great wings of\n     poetry, \u2018Far from To-day,\u2019 as the time of the stories is placed;\n     the hearts that beat in them are the hearts of to-day, and each one\n     of these stories breathes the joy and the sorrow of life, and is\n     rich with the beauty of the world.\u201d\n\n     From the _London Academy_, December 24th:--\n\n     \u201cThe six stories in the dainty volume entitled \u2018Far from To-day\u2019\n     are of imagination all compact. The American short tales, which\n     have of late attained a wide and deserved popularity in this\n     country, have not been lacking in this vitalizing quality; but the\n     art of Mrs. Slosson and Miss Wilkins is that of imaginative\n     realism, while that of Miss Gertrude Hall is that of imaginative\n     romance; theirs is the work of impassioned observation, hers of\n     impassioned invention. There is in her book a fine, delicate\n     fantasy that reminds one of Hawthorne in his sweetest moods; and\n     while Hawthorne had certain gifts which were all his own, the new\n     writer exhibits a certain winning tenderness in which he was\n     generally deficient. In the domain of pure romance it is long since\n     we have had anything so rich in simple beauty as is the work which\n     is to be found between the covers of \u2018Far from To-day.\u2019\u201d\n\n\n_Sold by all booksellers. Mailed, post-paid, on receipt of price, by the\npublishers_,\n\nROBERTS BROTHERS, BOSTON.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nThe Keynotes Series.\n\n16mo. Cloth. Price, $1.00.\n\n\n     I. =KEYNOTES.= By GEORGE EGERTON.\n\n     II. =THE DANCING FAUN.= By FLORENCE FARR.\n\n     III. =POOR FOLK.= By FEDOR DOSTOIEVSKY. Translated from the Russian\n     by LENA MILMAN. With an Introduction by GEORGE MOORE.\n\n     IV. =A CHILD OF THE AGE.= By FRANCIS ADAMS.\n\n     V. =THE GREAT GOD PAN AND THE INMOST LIGHT.= By ARTHUR MACHEN.\n\n     VI. =DISCORDS.= By GEORGE EGERTON.\n\n     VII. =PRINCE ZALESKI.= By M. P. SHIEL.\n\n     VIII. =THE WOMAN WHO DID.= By GRANT ALLEN.\n\n     IX. =WOMEN\u2019S TRAGEDIES.= By H. D. LOWRY.\n\n     X. =GREY ROSES AND OTHER STORIES.= By HENRY HARLAND.\n\n     XI. =AT THE FIRST CORNER AND OTHER STORIES.= By H. B. MARRIOTT\n     WATSON.\n\n     XII. =MONOCHROMES.= By ELLA D\u2019ARCY.\n\n     XIII. =AT THE RELTON ARMS.= By EVELYN SHARP.\n\n     XIV. =THE GIRL FROM THE FARM.= By GERTRUDE DIX.\n\n     XV. =THE MIRROR OF MUSIC.= By STANLEY V. MAKOWER.\n\n     XVI. =YELLOW AND WHITE.= By W. CARLTON DAWE.\n\n     XVII. =THE MOUNTAIN LOVERS.= By FIONA MACLEOD.\n\n     XVIII. =THE WOMAN WHO DID NOT.= By VICTORIA CROSSE.\n\n     XIX. =THE THREE IMPOSTORS.= By ARTHUR MACHEN.\n\n     XX. =NOBODY\u2019S FAULT.= By NETTA SYRETT.\n\n     XXI. =PLATONIC AFFECTIONS.= By JOHN SMITH.\n\n     XXII. =IN HOMESPUN.= By E. NESBIT.\n\n     XXIII. =NETS FOR THE WIND.= By UNA A. TAYLOR.\n\n     XXIV. =WHERE THE ATLANTIC MEETS THE LAND.= By CALDWELL LIPSETT.\n\n     XXV. =DAY-BOOKS.= Chronicles of Good and Evil. By MABEL E. WOTTON.\n\n     XXVI. =IN SCARLET AND GREY.= Stories of Soldiers and Others. By\n     FLORENCE HENNIKER; with =THE SPECTRE OF THE REAL=, by THOMAS HARDY\n     and FLORENCE HENNIKER (in collaboration).\n\n     XXVII. =MARIS STELLA.= By MARIE CLOTHILDE BALFOUR.\n\n     XXVIII. =UGLY IDOL.= By CLAUD NICHOLSON.\n\n     XXIX. =SHAPES IN THE FIRE.= A Mid-Winter Entertainment. With an\n     Interlude. By M. P. SHIEL.\n\n_Sold by all Booksellers. Mailed, postpaid, on receipt of price, by the\nPublishers_,\n\nROBERTS BROTHERS, BOSTON, MASS.\n\nJohn Lane, The Bodley Head, Vigo Street, London, W.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\n[Illustration]\n\nNEW ENGLAND LEGENDS AND FOLK LORE.\n\n_By SAMUEL ADAMS DRAKE_,\n\n_Author of \u201cOld Landmarks of \u2018Boston\u2019 and \u2018Middlesex,\u2019\u201d \u201cAround the\nHub,\u201d etc._\n\nOne volume, 12mo, cloth, illustrated. Price, $2.00.\n\n\nThis volume brings together, for the first time, the scattered Legendary\nand Folk Lore of New England. No subject is so thoroughly fascinating as\nthis is, while very few indeed afford materials at once so rich, so\nvaried, and so picturesque. It is confidently believed that every one\nwho sees how fertile is the field the author\u2019s research has opened, will\nnow wonder why such a work was not long ago undertaken.\n\nThe collection, preservation, and effective presentation of the\nLegendary Tales of New England is then the purpose of this book; and\nthat purpose presupposes a work of permanent interest and value.\n\nFor a work of this character no man is better qualified than Mr. SAMUEL\nADAMS DRAKE, the author who has already a high reputation as a writer of\nHISTORY, BIOGRAPHY, and TRAVEL, and who is thoroughly at home in any and\nevery phase of Old New England Life. His \u201cOld Landmarks of Boston,\u201d his\n\u201cNooks and Corners of the New England Coast,\u201d are unique works of their\nkind, to which his \u201cNew England Legends\u201d will unquestionably be the\nappropriate companion and claimant for public favor.\n\nHaving diligently searched out the origin of the Legendary Tales that\ncompose this volume, Mr. Drake\u2019s method has been to rewrite them in an\nentertaining manner for his readers of to-day; and as some of these\npieces have been the theme of poetry and romance, he has placed the\nprose and poetic versions side by side, in order that the thousands to\nwhom \u201cThe Scarlet Letter,\u201d \u201cThe Buccaneer,\u201d or \u201cThe Skeleton in Armor\u201d\nare as familiar as household words, may have as ready access to the\ntruth as hitherto they have had to the romance of history.\n\nIn this way many of the poetical gems of such authors as Longfellow,\nWhittier, Holmes, Dana, Lowell, Brainard, Sigourney, and others, are\nnewly interpreted for the public, besides going to enrich the\ncollection. Motley, Hawthorne, Sir Walter Scott, Austin, the\nMathers,--whoever in fact may have drawn upon this subject for\ninspiration,--are quoted for its illustration.\n\nThe popular superstitions of our ancestors, which included a firm belief\nin Witchcraft, in the Special Providences of God, and in the\nManifestations of the Invisible World,--not to speak of Omens, Charms,\nand the like,--are an unfailing source of interest to our age. Mr. Drake\nshows us what those beliefs were, and in what way they worked for good\nor evil, as moral or physical agents, and so moulded the history of the\ntimes. Although they possess all the charm of romance, these stories are\nreally the sober record of the startling or marvellous occurrences that\nthey narrate. One cannot rise from a perusal of this most fascinating\nbook without saying, \u201cI now know what kind of men and women the founders\nof New England really were. Truth is indeed stranger than fiction!\u201d\n\n\nROBERTS BROTHERS,\n\n_3 Somerset Street, Boston, Mass._\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\n_Messrs. Roberts Brothers\u2019 Publications._\n\nA STRANGE CAREER.\n\nLIFE AND ADVENTURES OF JOHN GLADWYN JEBB.\n\nBY HIS WIDOW.\n\nWith an Introduction by H. RIDER HAGGARD, and a portrait of Mr. Jebb.\n12mo, cloth. Price, $1.25.\n\n\nA remarkable romance of modern life.--_Daily Chronicle._\n\nExciting to a degree.--_Black and White._\n\nFull of breathless interest.--_Times._\n\nReads like fiction.--_Daily Graphic._\n\nPages which will hold their readers fast to the very end.--_Graphic._\n\nA better told and more marvellous narrative of a real life was never put\ninto the covers of a small octavo volume.--_To-Day._\n\nAs fascinating as any romance.... The book is of the most entrancing\ninterest.--_St. James\u2019s Budget._\n\nThose who love stories of adventure will find a volume to their taste in\nthe \u201cLife and Adventures of John Gladwyn Jebb,\u201d just published, and to\nwhich an introduction is furnished by Rider Haggard. The latter says\nthat rarely, if ever, in this nineteenth century, has a man lived so\nstrange and varied an existence as did Mr. Jebb. From the time that he\ncame to manhood he was a wanderer; and how he survived the many perils\nof his daily life is certainly a mystery.... The strange and remarkable\nadventures of which we have an account in this volume were in Guatemala,\nBrazil, in our own far West with the Indians on the plains, in mining\ncamps in Colorado and California, in Texas, in Cuba and Mexico, where\noccurred the search for Montezuma\u2019s, or rather Guatemoc\u2019s treasure, to\nwhich Mr. Haggard believes that Mr. Jebb held the key, but which through\nhis death is now forever lost. The story is one of thrilling interest\nfrom beginning to end, the story of a born adventurer, unselfish,\nsanguine, romantic, of a man too mystical and poetic in his nature for\nthis prosaic nineteenth century, but who, as a crusader or a knight\nerrant, would have won distinguished success. The volume is a notable\naddition to the literature of adventure.--_Boston Advertiser._\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\n_Sold by all Booksellers. Mailed, postpaid, by the publishers_,\n\nROBERTS BROTHERS, BOSTON.\n\n\nFOOTNOTES:\n\n [1] This plant is much used by an Indian tribe in Lower California\n who are said to live to a great age, one hundred and eighty years\n being no uncommon term of life with them. It is not now known to\n exist among the Eastern Indians. It grew like maize, about two feet\n high, and was always in motion, even when boiling in the pot. Louis\n Mitchell\u2019s mother, whom I knew well, received it from an Indian who\n wished to marry, and to whom she gave in return enough goods to set up\n housekeeping. She divided it with her four sisters, but at their death\n no trace of it was found. It gave him who drank it great length of\n life.\n\n [2] C. G. Leland gives a similar story in his \u201cAlgonquin Legends of\n New England.\u201d\n\n [3] Magician.\n\n [4] A pack kettle made of birch bark, used by the Indian before the\n days of trunks. I have a toy one a hundred years old or more.\n\n [5] Grandmother.\n\n [6] This incident occurs in several tales.\n\n [7] Stones were heated in a fire on the ground, when red-hot, cold\n water was thrown on them to make a steam.\n\n [8] A different version of this story is given in C. G. Leland\u2019s\n \u201cAlgonquin Legends of New England,\u201d Houghton & Mifflin, Boston, 1884.\n\n [9] Red-headed duck.\n\n [10] Leather pouch.\n\n [11] A kiaw\u0101kq\u2019s little finger possesses the power of speech, and\n always warns him of approaching danger.\n\n [12] C. G. Leland gives similar stories in his \u201cAlgonquin Legends of\n New England.\u201d\n\n [13] See also C. G. Leland\u2019s \u201cAlgonquin Legends of New England,\u201d\n Houghton & Mifflin, for similar stories.\n\n [14] An evil witch, see Leland\u2019s \u201cAlgonquin Legends of New England.\u201d\n\n [15] Willow saplings, covered with fungus growth, found about marshy\n places where frogs live.\n\n [16] Friend.\n\n [17] The Southwest Wind usually brings warm rain, which brightens the\n face of Nature.\n\n [18] The Southwest Wind blows hither and thither, very capriciously,\n like the tossing of a ball.\n\n [19] A mythical bird whose wings are so large as to darken the sun\n when he flies between it and the earth. Indians believe that they must\n fall on their faces when he flies by, or be blind till sunset.\n\n [20] When Passamaquoddy Indians catch a grasshopper, they hold him in\n the palm of the hand and say, \u201cGive me a chew of tobacco.\u201d The liquid\n that the insect spits looks like tobacco juice.\n\n [21] Wampum.\n\n [22] The skin of a white bear is very powerful in magic.\n\n [23] The Indian who told this tale explained it as being the story\n of the white man and the red man. The white man is the Porcupine who\n came from afar with an army of swords. He promised fairly; he had\n everything; the Indian had only his arrows and his land. He thought it\n was wisest to say: \u201cTake what you will.\u201d But the white man killed him,\n and took all his land.\n\n [24] Wood worms.\n\n [25] This version of \u201cThe Fox and the Crane\u201d shows how the Indian\n changed the fables of \u00c6sop and La Fontaine, told him by French\n missionaries, to suit his own native surroundings.\n\n [26] Old M\u0101li Dana, the Passamaquoddy squaw, when asked to explain\n these words, replied: \u201cThat what Squirrel say when he get frightened\n or cross.\u201d\n\n [27] This bird seems to be the robin.\n\n [28] This appears to have no meaning, but to be only an attempt on the\n part of the Indian story-teller to imitate the notes of the bird.\n\n [29] K\u2019m\u016bsam\u012bs\u2019n.\n\n [30] Rabbits ever since have had short tails.\n\n [31] These words are in an ancient tongue whose meaning is now known\n to none of the Indians, the words only being retained.\n\n [32] The Indians formerly used this with flint to light their fires.\n\n [33] M\u012bko had made good his escape before the fire got to burning\n well; but his beautiful silky coat of brown fur was scorched red by\n the heat, and has remained so ever since.\n\n [34] Woodpeckers devour the wood worms.\n\n [35] A worm, of course, could not fly.","title":"In Indian Tents: Stories Told by Penobscot, Passamaquoddy and Micmac Indians to Abby L. Alger","tradition":"myth-cosmogony","translated_text":null,"word_count":26188}