366 SENECA FICTION, LEGENDS, AND MYTHS [eth. ann. S2 



WTien night came the father returned from hunting, and imme- 

 diately missing his boy, asked where he was. The woman answered 

 that he was at play when she went to gather bark, and that when 

 she came home she could not find him, asserting fuither that she 

 had been hunting in all directions for him. and that she was afraid 

 he had been carried off by some wild beast. The father was nearly 

 crazed by this event, and for many days hunted for his boy, but he 

 could find only the tracks made by his little moccasins far into the 

 woods — tracks which the wicked stepmother had (artificially) made 

 to mislead and deceive the father. 



When the child found himself fastened in the cave he began to 

 scream and cry, and his strength was giving way and he was near 

 fainting when he thought he heard a voice saying: "Poor child, 

 stop crying! I am your grandmother. I will give you food." This 

 was a Mother Porcupine. Wiping away his tears with her paw, 

 she brought him food, which he thought was very good, though it 

 was onl}' hemlock burs. She gave him some of the food which she 

 had saved for hei'self. After eating he was contented, whereupon 

 she said, " You are very tired, my dear little grandson; come and lie 

 down." In this way she fed and cared for him a long time. 



One day she said : " My stock of food is e.xhausted, and as it is 

 now spring, we should not be cold out of doors. Your stepmother 

 has fastened us in here. I must call on our neighbors to let us out, 

 and when we are out, I will leave you in their care and go in search 

 of food for uiyself."' Approaching the opening, the Porcupine 

 called aloud for help. Afterward the boy thought they went back 

 into the cave, and the Porcupine said: " My dear grandson, we mu.st 

 now part. I feel very sad but it can not be avoided. I will give you 

 this advice. They will come and let us out, and you will go with 

 them. You must be obedient and do just as you are told to do, and 

 all will be well in the end." Soon they heard noises with the sound 

 of voices outside the cave, and after a while a great crowd seemed to 

 be collected. The imprisoned ones heard the chief of the assembly 

 say : "All who heard the call have come.^^' Now we want to know who. 

 will roll the stone away?" Birds came and pecked at it in vain; 

 they could do nothing. Then the smaller animals scratched at it. 

 One after another failed. At last a wolf came forward, saj'ing. "I 

 can pull the stone away; I am the man to do it." Pushing his long 

 claws under it, he pulled and pulled, until at length he exerted so 

 much strength that his hold gave way and he fell over on his back. 

 Then the deer tried with his long horns to raise the stone. All tried, 

 every one in his own way, from the smallest to the largest animal 

 (for all were present that had heard the call), except the she-bear; 

 she sat at a short distance with her little family around her, con- 

 sisting of three young cubs. When all the rest had failed, she said, 



