344 SENECA FICTION, LEGENDS, AND MYTHS [eth. anx. 32 



young man; they now looked on him with respect as a person of 

 great magical powers. The party traveled many days. 



One night they camped and lay down to sleep. The young man 

 dreamed again, and his dream said: "Tomorrow at noon you will 

 meet an enemy of greater number than your own party, and among 

 them will be a very large man of great magic power; he is so much 

 larger than the rest that you will easily know him. You must all 

 fight him. If your party does not believe you. when you tell the 

 dream to them, do not mind that, but keep on in the same direction 

 you are going, and at noon they will know the truth. When you 

 see the enemy let every man hang up his bundle; let no one keep his 

 bundle. Then begin to fight, and keep on until you conquer." In 

 the morning the young man did not tell his dream. He thought 

 that it was useless to do so. They started on after eating their 

 morning meal. AVhen the sun was well up in the sky, they saw 

 a bear get up, stretch himself, and look at them, saying, " We have 

 now met, and we shall get what we want." Thereupon the bear 

 turned and disappeared. • It was evidently one of the enemy, who 

 had come to warn them. The headman talked to his men. saying 

 that the enemy was probably near, and that they should be of good 

 courage, and that they would conquer the enemy. So they went 

 on. Before very long they saw the enemy, and the enemy saw them. 

 A war whoop was heard; then the arrows began to fly. The young 

 man said : " Now let every man hang up his bundle on the tree." 

 After this was done, the fight began. The young man, remembering 

 his dream, watched for the large man. Soon he saw him, and 

 noticed that he had a sort of medicine which he held up in front 

 of his face like a shield, a little to one side, to ward off the arrows. 

 The young man also saw that the man's defense was larger ^°^ than 

 the one he himself had (it was known that the smaller it was, the 

 more power it possessed), and the youth felt sure of success when 

 he became aware of this fact. (The magic power, or orenda, was 

 born with the boy, as it was with all the Genonsgwas — a tiny hand 

 to be put in the palm of his own hand.) Just at that moment the 

 large man of the enemy, discovering the young man, said: "Von 

 will get what you deserve now, you Stone Coat. I will kill you, 

 and thus punish you (for treachery)." They watched each other, 

 paying no attention to the rest of the people, for. each was eager 

 to kill the other, but they could not hit until they came hand to 

 hand. They began to strike with clubs and made a terrible fight. 



F'inally. the young man, snatching the stranger's club, hurled it 

 away and threw hi^m down. AVhen the enemy saw their chief nuin 

 overpowered, they began to run. The j'outh kept on until he had 

 killed the big man. A large number of the enemy were killed, but 

 not one of the 20 men was injured. Having piled up the dead ot 



