No.'^SOr' ^^^' EASTERN CHEROKEE FOLKTALES — KILPATRICK 439 



Next morning he felt discouraged, and thought that this howling 

 meant that something had happened at home. When he got home, 

 he found that his child had been all torn up by the panther. 



He shot the panther. 



3.— THE WOMAN AND THE WOLVES 



In olden times a woman who was menstruating was not allowed to 

 go into the mountains or the woods because wolves were very likely 

 to find a woman in that condition, just as rattlesnakes are. 



One such woman, a very brave woman, had no fear and went into 

 the woods. 



When she was returning, she noticed that wolves had gathered 

 and were following her. She saw them approaching, and she climbed 

 up a tree. She stood upon a limb of the tree almost all day and 

 throughout the whole night following. She did not dare to come 

 down, for the wolves stayed under the tree, just waiting for her to 

 faU off. 



Next morning she felt very sleepy, and she was afraid that if she 

 fell asleep, she would fall from the tree. She had long hair, so she 

 parted it and tied it to a limb just above her so that if she fell, she 

 would not faU down where the wolves were. 



The people, when they did not see the woman come back, went to 

 look for her. They found her hanging by her hair from the limb to 

 which she had tied herself. 



She was dead. 



4.— A MAN IS KILLED BY TURKEYS 



A man out in the woods came upon a great flock of turkeys. When 

 the turkeys caught sight of him, instead of fleeing from him, they 

 attacked him. He could not successfully defend himself against such 

 a number of birds that was in this flock. At last he grew weak, and 

 they lolled him. 



The people in the settlement wondered what had happened to the 

 man. They searched the woods and found his body. At first it was 

 believed that he had been slain by tribal enemies, but no human 

 footprints were to be seen about his body, only turkey tracks. 



5.— A SKUNK CURES A MAN OF SMALLPOX 



In olden times there were foiu* men who went visiting a long way 

 off from where they lived. While they were visiting, the smallpox 

 appeared and killed many people. 



The men became afraid and started back home, but one of them 

 had already contracted the disease and was growing very weak. He 



