THE OGRESS LEGEND. 53 



worth repeating, as it shows us how readily unci- 

 vilized man seizes on the supernatural to ac- 

 count for everything beyond his comprehension. 

 Spiritual agencies and wild myths form subjects 

 for the daily chat round the lodge-fire; every- 

 thing becomes mysterious that is not under- 

 stood; the very language of the red-man is a 

 tangled chaos of symbols, figures, and metaphors. 

 A prominent performer in all their legends is 

 a terrible old woman, half witch, half ogress, of 

 very doubtful reputation, armed with teeth like 

 a, wolf, and the claws of a grizzly-bear; her 

 entire time spent in doing evil, eating children, 

 and waging unceasing war on the good and 

 virtuous. 



To make the story brief, it seems this amiable 

 old lady (at some period far away in the dim 

 history of the past) spied a fat dainty young 

 'redskin,' the son of a brave and good chief, 

 playing by the side of a mountain-burn, not far 

 from the wigwam of his parents. With wily 

 words of endearment, and holding out a basket 

 filled with ripe berries and gaudy flowers, the 

 witch-woman coaxed the baby-savage within 

 reach of her terrible claws: as she clutched it, 

 the father and mother saw their loved one's 

 peril, too late to rescue, to save, beyond all 



