^•^/J,'^] FICTION 221 



At this time daj^ began to dawn. The Ongwe las said to himself, 

 " I shall go home now. When it is night again I shall retui"n and I 

 shall be sure of the game." So bringing his dead dogs to life and 

 taking them into his canoe he sailed away. 



Ilodadefion in his hiding place heard the chasing during the entire 

 night, the barking of the dogs and the shouting of the Ongwe las; 

 also the sounds made by the club striking his uncle, the bones. When 

 daylight had come and all was quiet Hodadefion, emerging from his 

 hiding place, returned to his uncle, who welcomed him with the 

 words: "Well, my nephew, you are alive yet. So will you now go 

 to bring my pouch to me, and let me have a smoke, and I will tell 

 you then what to do next." Hodadefion quickly fetched the pouch 

 and filled the pipe with tobacco and, lighting it, he placed it in the 

 mouth of his uncle, who smoked with great pleasure, letting the 

 smoke come out of every suture in his skull and through its eye sock- 

 ets and nose and ear openings. The uncle said to his nephew, " I 

 thank you for this smoke. Now take the pouch back, and when you 

 return we will talk over our troubles." Hodadefion carefully con- 

 cealed the pouch, and when he returned to his uncle he was ready to 

 hear what he must do next. 



The uncle then said to him, " Now go to the place where the 

 canoe of Ongwe las usually makes a landing; there dig a hole 

 in the shore and bury yourself in the sand, leaving only the tip of 

 your nose out. When Shagowenotha lands and hurries away to the 

 opposite side of the island, you must get up quickly and board the 

 canoe and have the ducks paddle you back to the mainland. So, 

 nephew, take courage and you will win." 



While Hodadefion was covering himself he heard Shagowenotha 

 singing to the ducks as they paddled him over the water. Soon he 

 heard the canoe groimd on the sandy shore and a voice saying, " I 

 shall now go to the place where my nephew has spilled his blood." 

 Paying strict attention to the advice of his uncle, the bones, Hoda- 

 defion knew exactly what to do next. As soon as Shagowenotha 

 was out of sight Hodadefion arose quicklj^, and, calling the ducks, 

 he pushed the canoe back into the water; then he began to sing, " Now 

 we paddle, my ducks; now we paddle, my ducks." The ducks pad- 

 dled so swiftly that the canoe fairly flew over the water. The canoe 

 was far out on the lake when Ongwe las saw it. At once he rushed 

 to the beach and called out, " Let me get aboard ! Let me get 

 aboard ! " 



Hodadefion heard but paid no attention to this entreaty; on the 

 contrary, turning to the monsters dwelling in the depths of the lake, 

 he said, " If Shagowenotha should try to swim after me, do you 

 devour him." Then from the water came a confusion of voices say- 

 ing hoarsely, " It shall be done; it shall be done." 



