30 TRANSAQTIONS OP THE CANADIAN INSTITUTE. [VOL. VL 



in the cold?' came again from the lodge. Whereupon the gambler 

 ascertained that it was himself who was thus addressed. Therefore he 

 timidly entered, and, following his host's suggestion, he set to warm him- 

 self by one of the fires. 



" The old man was called Nd-yd^-hzvolluz * because, being no other 

 than Yihta,-|- he nightly carries his house about in the course of his 

 travellings, ' You seem very miserable, my son-in-law ; take this up,' he 

 said to his guest while putting mantlewise on the young man's shoulders 

 a robe of sewn marmot skins. He next handed him a pair of tanned 

 skin mocassins and ornamented leggings of the same material. He then 

 called out : * My daughter, roast by the fireside something to eat for your 

 husband — he must be hungry.' Hearing which, the gambler, who had 

 thought himself alone with Na-yaR-hwoUuz, was much surprised to see a 

 beautiful virgin % emerge from one of the corner provision and goods 

 stores § and proceed to prepare a repast for him. 



"Meanwhile, the old man was digging a hole in the ashes, whence he 

 brought out a whole black bear cooked under the fire with skin and hair 

 on. Pressing with his fingers the brim of the hole made by the arrow, he 

 took the bear up to his guest's lips, saying : ' Suck out the grease, my son- 

 in-law.' The latter was so exhausted by fatigue that he could drink 

 but a little of the warm liquid, which caused his host to exclaim : ' How 

 small-bellied my son-in-law is ! ' Then the old man went to the second 

 fireplace, likewise dug out therefrom a whole bear and made his guest 

 drink in the same way with the same result accompanied by a similar 

 remark. 



" After they had eaten, NayaRhwolluz showed the gambler to his 

 resting place and cautioned him not to go out during the night. As for 

 himself, he was soon noticed to leave the lodge that and every other 

 night ; and, as he came back in the morning, he invariably seemed to be 

 quite heated and looked as one who has travelled a very great distance. 



" The gambler lived there happily with his new wife for some months. 

 But his former passion soon revived. As spring came back, he would 

 take some alte in an absent-minded way and set out to play therewith 

 all alone. Which seeing, his father-in-law said to him : ' If you feel 



* Lit. "he-carries (as with a sleigh )-a-house." The final hxvolluz is proper to the dialect of the 

 Lower Carriers, though the tale is narrated by an Upper Carrier, which circumstance would seem 

 to indicate that the legend is uot, as so many others, borrowed from a Tsimpsian tribe. 



+ Ursa major. 



XSak-3sta, " She sits apart." 



§ See the Chapter on the Dene habitations. 



