174 Field Columbian Museum — ^Anthropology, Vol. V. 



grunted at him. "No! You can't come any closer to me. You may 

 turn around quickly and go back to your own place ! Go, or I shall come 

 for you,^' said Lone-BuTl. Magpie, without trying to make a plea, then 

 flew up and sailed back to the men, who were still watching for his re- 

 turn. "I am here to tell you that Lone-Bull is a bad one. The minute 

 I got in and was about to call for your daughter, he grunted at me so 

 furiously that I didn't have time for rest, but ^ad to come back. He 

 is really a hard creature, by all means/' said Magpie, with his head 

 turned away from them. 



"Well, we are so surprised to know of your first failure. Never- 

 theless, we are much cUliged to you," said they in low voices. "Oht 

 I am much worried for my dear daughter. She must have a hard ex- 

 perience," said the real father. "Well, we must keep on getting the 

 skillful ones, and that is all there is to do," said they, encouragingly. 



So they sent for Mouse to perform the perilous task. "Now, 

 friend, perhaps you have at this time heard of our distress. You are 

 known to be very cunning, and very seldom seen at your tricks, etc. 

 We want you to go after our daughter," said they. "Is that so?" said 

 Mouse, moving his whiskers and wagging his tail. "Thanks, we shall 

 be obliged to you," said the young men. So he started off at full speed 

 and attracted no attention on the way. Reaching the place, he stopped 

 to see the woman, but Lone-Bull then grunted so furiously that he made 

 no further attempt. Feeling discouraged, he then returned wdth slack- 

 ened speed and said to the men, "Say, friends, I found the man Lone- 

 Bull, and in bad spirits, and he chased me away. I did the best that I 

 knew how, but he was probably informed of my arrival. Some crazy 

 person may be the cause of it,"- said Mouse. 



"Notwithstanding your failure, we are much obliged to you for the 

 favor. But we had hoped that you would be successful and bring 

 our dear daughter back to us," said they with faint voices. "Now I 

 did not want to leave my dear daughter at home when we were still 

 hunting, but such is the luck," said the real father, with pitiful voice. 

 "We don't know who can go this time. We then leave it to your dis- 

 cretion," said the rest. 



So they bowed their heads in silence and there came up a mole to 

 the surface with eagerness. "Friends ! I have heard of your sorrow, 

 and I cannot help but pity you. I have come up to offer you my serv- 

 ices to-day," said Mole, snorting terribly. "You may know that I am 

 the only creature that does works unseen. There is no one on earth 

 that can witness my journeys, for I travel underground. You may know 

 that I can penetrate the earth's crust easily, and that is my power," 



