332 THE HUDSON BAY ESKIMO. 



The wolf replied: " I am tkiukiug of my poor father and mother and 

 brothers; I suppose they will all be starved to death. My old father 

 told me to tell you to put a mark on the middle of the lake so they 

 would know where I am. " The otter went to the middle of the lake and 

 erected a pile as a mark by which the wolfs relations should know it. 

 The brothers of the otter's wife were on the hill looking for the mark 

 set up by their sister's husband, and when they saw it they ex- 

 claimed: "Our sister has saved us! our sister has saved us!" 

 and ran back to their old father's home to give him the joyful in- 

 telligence that they had seen the mark put up by the husband of their 

 sister. The old wolf then told his family that they would go and seek 

 their sister and daughter to live vrith her and her husband. They 

 all went to the hill by the lake, and from the top of it they saw the 

 mark, and from it they followed the track of the otter until they 

 saw the tent in the edge of the woods. They exclaimed : "There is 

 our sister's tent, for the deerskins are hanging outside. '' They raised 

 such a joyful shout at the prospect before them, that the noise fright- 

 ened some young otters (for the family had now become larger) which 

 were playing outside. The little ones scampered in and hid them- 

 selves behind their father's back. The father inquired, "What is the 

 matter, that you are so frightened ?" The little ones replied : "We 

 are running from the Hunger" (for that was the name they appUed to 

 the wolves). The mother replied : "Perhaps they see my father, 

 mother, and brothers coming." The otter told his wife to go out and 

 see. She complied, and when she opened the door they saw a row of 

 gaunt wolves ; nothing but skin and bones. The newcomers immedi- 

 ately fell to, and began to devour the meat which was on the stage. 

 The otter's wife remonstrated, and said : "Do not be so greedy ; my 

 husband is not a stingy man. I take my meals when he is sleeping, 

 and pretead not to eat much during the day." They all went into the 

 tent and the otter soon went to bed. When they thought he was 

 asleep, they began to eat all the raw meat and fish, and soon finished 

 it. In the morning when the otter had awakened, he remarked to his 

 wife : "I think your brothers will make a fool of me. " The wife 

 asked: "What makes you think so'?" The otter replied: "They 

 look at me so hard, that I do not know where to turn my eyes. " After 

 breakfast the otter and his wolf brothers went away to look for deer. 

 They soon came upon a band of them, and the otter told the wolves 

 to go and kill them. The wolves ran after the deer, but got only one 

 of them. After the deer were frightened by the wolves, the otter 

 sprang after the deer and soon killed every one of them in the same 

 manner he had killed the others. He then cleaned himself in the dry 

 snow and returned home. The wolves had started for the tent before 

 the otter, so wheu the latter returned they asked the otter : " How 

 many deer did you kill ?" The otter replied : "I killed all that were 

 in the band, " adding, " In the morning you will have to go for the 



