heXt] fiction 171 



great fish, lifting its head above the surface, said, " I shall not long 

 be a fish, for I shall soon become a Ganiagwaihe." Then the people 

 departed. 



In a short time the great fish became a Ganiagwaihe, having hair 

 only on its back and feet. It remained around the lake, and of those 

 who came there to fish it always killed and ate one. The people 

 did not see this done, but always missed one of their number at that 

 place. They did not like this at all, knowing that if the fish con- 

 tinued to live there long it would kill many persons. The people 

 therefore assembled in council to decide how to get rid of the great 

 fish. At last two or three young men agreed to go there and try to 

 kill the Ganiagwaihe; but they never returned. Men who went to 

 find them recovered only their garments. 



Finally the cousin of the man who had become a Ganiagwaihe said : 

 " I shall now go. Perhaps I may be able to kill it." So they pre- 

 pared for him parched corn, new moccasins, and a very good bow 

 and twelve fine arrows. Having arrived at the pond, he camped 

 there. That night he dreamed that his cousin, appearing to him in 

 the form of a man, asked him : " Why did you come ? I can kill 

 you." The other answered, " I have come to kill you because you 

 are doing great harm to our people." Then Ganiagwaihe said, " I 

 shall start at daylight, and you pursue me and see if you can 

 catch me." 



Early the next morning the young man started in the direction 

 the Ganiagwaihe had indicated it would flee, and, running as swiftly 

 as he could, he kept up the pursuit until midday, when he saw the 

 tracks of the Ganiagwaihe. Thereupon he shouted in triumph: 

 " Now I shall kill you. I shall soon overtake you now." Then he ran 

 faster than he had been running before. He ran until night, when 

 he camped and built a fire. On looking at his bundle of corn flour 

 he found that it had become ants; so he had nothing to eat. This 

 mishap was caused by the Ganiagwaihe in order to deprive the man 

 of food. It was now night. While the young man sat there think- 

 ing about his situation he heard the approach of footsteps. He 

 knew that it was his cousin, the Ganiagwaihe, and he was ready to 

 take aim when the Ganiagwaihe called : " Stop, cousin ! Hold, until I 

 can have a talk with you. If you will permit me to escape this time, T 

 will start early in the morning and will leave this part of the coun- 

 try forever, and I will injure your peojAe no more." The young 

 man replied: "If you are in earnest in what you have just said. I 

 will spare your life. You know that too many have already been 

 killed by you, and you must stop killing our people at once." Thor- 

 oughly frightened, the Ganiagwaihe agreed to this; and, having bade 

 each other farewell, they parted. 



