Sew/tt] fiction 111 



success if you return it to her. I think you would better do so. 

 Show me what you took from her." The young hunter then drew 

 out the animate finger and showed it to him. The chief at once said, 

 " Let her liave it again." The hunter replied : " It is well. I sup- 

 pose she will never molest us again." 



Now, all the party were aware that the woman was a Genonsgwa. 

 Placing the animate finger on the palm of his hand, the hunter held 

 it out as far as he could over the stream toward her. In reaching 

 over the water she lost her balance and fell into the stream. She 

 sank at once, and all that the hunters saw was bubbles arising from 

 the water. Then the young hunter said, " Let us be off quickly." He 

 retained the animate finger, which he afterward used in all his 

 hunting expeditions. 



The party reached home feafe in due time. The young hunter be- 

 came noted for his skill, owing to the animate finger, which he always 

 consulted and which would always point out where he would find 

 whatever game he wanted to kill — bear, elk, beaver, or pigeons. 



So it happened that ever afterward he had a great supply of all 

 things good to eat and of many fine furs and feather I'obes. 



13. The Grandmother .\nd Her Granddaughter 



There was a grandmother living with her granddaughter. They 

 had a skin of some kind for their blanket, the hair of which had 

 largely worn off. Suddenly they found that the skin had become 

 alive ^*' and was angry, and with all their might they ran for their 

 lives. They heard the skin coming in fierce pursuit and it seemed 

 very near to them. Then the grandmother began to sing, saying in 

 her song, "My granddaughter and I are running our best for life; 

 mj' granddaughter and I are running our best for life." At the end 

 of the song she could scarcely hear the sound of the animate skin 

 following them. Not long afterward she heard it more plainly, but 

 then they were near home. When they reached the lodge, the animate 

 skin was so near it almost caught them. When they jumped through 

 the door the skin clawed at them, scratching their backs, but they 

 got in. The skin was a bear. The old woman and her grand- 

 daughter were chipmunks. Chipmunks now have stripes on their 

 backs as the result of the scratches received by the two mentioned 

 above. 



14. The Woman Who Became a Snake from Eating Fish^" 



In the old times a young man and his wife lived together very 

 happily in a village. The young man had a hunting ground one 

 day's journey from the village. There in the forest he had a lodge. 



