^^"^Sj FICTION 299 



whom she found lying down, doing nothing. She said, " Oh ! my 

 sister, what is the matter? " "Oh! " said the elder, "I can not do 

 anything: he has overpowered me by his orenda (magic power) ; do 

 the best you can." The younger, driving their flint knife into the 

 neck joint, began to hammer it; finally the knife went out of sight. 

 Then she asked her sister, "What shall we do now?" "Our only 

 safety is to run away," was the answer. The younger sister, going 

 down the smoke-hole, got a narrow strip of the skin of Djainosgowa. 

 This was the container of their magic power, or fetish. Com- 

 ing back to her sister, she said, " Now I am ready." The elder 

 answered: "Take hold of one end of the skin and I will take the 

 other. Then let us run to the end of Doonongaes' tail, where we 

 will jump off and get away as fast as we can." It was a good while 

 before they came to the end of the tail. Then jumping off, they 

 hurried along, not on the straight trail but somewhat to one side 

 of it. 



Doonongaes, who was rimning all this time with great speed, said 

 at last, " I do not hear anyone talking." Then his neck began to feel 

 tired, and he said, " This lodge wearies me," and jerking his head, 

 off went the lodge, falling some distance away. On going up to it he 

 found it empty. " Very well. We shall soon see about this," thought 

 he : " No one has ever been able to get away from me. I will put 

 these two out of the way." Thereupon he ran back as fast as he 

 could, saying, "When could they have escaped? Oh! my neck is 

 sore." As he went he snuffed the air to find the women. Halting and 

 looking around he saw tracks where they had jumped from his tail, 

 for the earth was torn up. " Ha, ha ! you think you are going to 

 escape me," he said, starting with lightning speed on their track. 

 He ran until night. Toward morning he said : " The pain in my neck 

 is increasing. I wonder if I should better go back. No; I can not 

 give up this chase. I have always thought I could allow no one to 

 overpower me, so I will keep on." At midday he came to the end 

 of the women's ti'ail, and could track them no farther. Now, he 

 thought, " What shall I do, for I am determined to put them out of 

 the world?" 



Standing up, he became taller and taller until at last he stood on 

 the tip of his tail with his head high in the air. He saw a smoke far_ 

 off on one side, so he came down and shot off in that direction, reach- 

 ing the place in a few moments. Halting by the lodge, he thought : 

 " I hear some one inside. Very likely magically powerful people 

 live here." On peeping in, he saw a very old man sitting down smok- 

 ing, with his head bowed. Doonongaes watched him for some time; 

 at last the old man, looking up, said : ^^Hwu, my nephew has come ! 

 Well, nephew come in. Why do you stand outside? " "This is my 

 uncle's lodge; it seems he knows me," thought Doonongaes; so he 



