94 SENECA FICTION, LEGENDS, AND MYTHS [btii.ann. 3: 



that he would station himsolf near the spring and that if anyone 

 went to draw water he would fiirlit him. 



So in the early morning of the next day the mother of the Se\en 

 Sisters arose and took a fire poker to stir up the fire on the hearth. 

 Then Senon, who was posted there, at once attacked her with his foul 

 odors. The aged woman fell back nearly stilled and unable to open 

 her eyes. Her daughters, the Seven Sisters, hearing the commotion, 

 arose (juickly to assist their mother. Seeing the man fighting their 

 motlier. they at once attacked him. At first he bravely repelled their 

 assault, but they got clubs and fought until they had killed him, and 

 they then threw his body out of doors. 



Now they started to make the fire, and one of their number went 

 out to bring in firewood. AVhen she reached down to pick uj) a 

 piece of wood she felt a severe blow on the arm, and found her 

 arm full of hedgehog quills. She at once repelled this attack, and 

 while she was fighting Kahehda her sisters came to her assistance. 

 On seeing what had caused the trouble they took up pieces of wood 

 and attacked Kahehda standing among the logs. They hit him 

 repeatedly on the head until they had killed him, and tlien tiiey 

 threw his body awa}'. 



Then one of the sisters needed dried shelled corn to prepare for 

 making bread for the day's meal. Going to the bucket where it 

 was kept and putting her hand into it, she instantly felt a sharp 

 blow, and looking into the bucket she saw therein a huge Hagon- 

 sadji."^ She called her sisters to her assistance, who at once responded. 

 Arming themselves with clubs they struck Hagonsadji many blows 

 until he was dead, but by this time the sister who had been l>itten 

 by Hagonsadji was dead. 



Then the aged mother of the Seven Sisters asked one of the 

 daughters to bring water from the spring. Going to the spring, slie 

 stooped down to draw up the water, whereupon she was seized liy Tur- 

 tle. He caught her by the toe and held on persistently; she tried i-e- 

 peatedly, but she could not get him oif. Then she walked back- 

 ward, dragging him along. When she arrived at the lodge her 

 mother was very angry and shouted, " Throw him into the fire and 

 let him burn up." Then Turtle laughed out loud and said. '" You 

 can not plea.se me more than by casting me into the fire, for I came 

 from fire and I like to be in it rather than in anything else." So 

 the old woman changed her mind and said, " I will take him to the 

 creek and drown him." Thereupon Turtle cried out in great agon}% 

 "Oh! do not do this. I shall die; I shall die if you do." He begged 

 hard for his life, but it apparently availed him nothing. So the 

 old woman and the six living sisters, seizing Turtle, ruthlessly 

 dragged him along to the neighboring creek and cast him into it, 

 thinking that he would drown; he, of course, naturally sank to the 



