218 SENECA FJCnON, LEGENDS, AND MYTHS {bth. iNN. 32 



Later two men came to get some chestnuts for a person who was 

 in danger of death. Replying to their request Hodadenon said: 

 " It is well. I will give you a chestnut, but you must be very careful 

 not to lose it. Give me your arrow and I will hide the chestnut in 

 the arrow. Be very careful of a man whom you will meet not far 

 from this place. He will say to you, ' Stop, nephew ! ' and then he 

 will come toward you. At that moment you must say, ' Let us see who 

 can shoot the farther,' and before he can come near you, do you shoot 

 away your arrows as far as you can, and you will thus save the chest- 

 nut. If you lose this one I will not give any more." 



The two men M'ent their way. Soon they saw a man who said to 

 them, " Oh, nephews ! I have waited long to see you." Thereupon he 

 started toward them, but they at once said, " Let us see who can 

 shoot the farther." Rushing forward the stranger tried to grasp 

 their arrows, and nearly succeeded in doing so. On failing in this 

 attempt, he was very angry, and said, " You are not my nephews at 

 all. Go your way at once." Willingly they hurried away from him, 

 and after finding their arrows, made their way home. 



The next day Hodadeiion said : " There is still one more labor for 

 me to perform. There is yet one empty seat in our lodge. I shall 

 go west this time. Now I go." He had not gone very far on his 

 journey before he saw an opening, or clearing, in the forest ahead 

 of him. When he came out of the forest into this clearing, he saw 

 a large lake before him, the opposite shore of which he could not see. 

 Between him and this lake was a lodge from which smoke was issu- 

 ing. Walking up to this and pushing aside the doorflap, he entered : 

 within he found an old man mending moccasins. 



Raising his head, the old man said : " Well, nephew, I have been 

 looking for you a long time. I knew that you would come. I am 

 I'eady to go home. I am from the same place from which you come. 

 The first thing for us to do now will be to eat together." The old 

 man had a pot of corn and beans with plenty of bear's meat for 

 seasoning. After they had eaten, the old man said, " Now is our 

 time. We will now go hunting on the little island." 



Going to a canoe, they got aboard of it. The old man, whose name 

 was Shagowenotha Onononda Sowek,^^ began to paddle the canoe, but 

 he finally called the Onononda Sowek to come and do so. At once 

 small white ducks with black heads came and paddled the canoe over 

 to the island. During all this time the old man sang. When they 

 landed the old man said, " Let us land." 



Then Shagowenotha said to his companion, " Now you go to the 

 lower end and I will go to the upper end of this island. Then we 

 shall meet in the middle of tlie island, and shall see how much game 

 each of us will have." Hodadenon started for the lower end of the 

 island, but in a short time he heard the song of the old man. . Turn- 



