SewSJ legends 385 



" No," said Ot'hegwenhda, " I will try your orenda or magic power. ' 

 "Oh, no! I will try first," said the old man, whose name was De- 

 waqsent'hwus (Flea). Thereupon they disputed until they came to 

 blows. Throwing down the rattle, the old man struck the boy with 

 one hand. Immediately the old man's arm fell off; he struck with 

 the other hand, whereupon the other arm fell off. Then he kicked 

 at the youth with one leg, and that broke off; he kicked with the 

 other leg, which likewise dropped off. The old man was now 

 merely head and body. The arms and the legs tried to get back into 

 their places, but Ot'hegwenhda rushed around to push them away, 

 and shot an arrow through the old man. Immediateh' the arrow, 

 taking root, became a small tree. Though fastened to the earth, the 

 old man tried to bite Ot'hegwenhda, but the moment he did so, his 

 head flew off. The boy pounded the body to bits. Jumjiing and 

 dancing around, he said, " Oh ! my uncle is all in pieces." In the 

 old man's lodge he found a second room, in which were the last 

 three of his brothers, who were as weak and wretched as were the 

 others. These he cured in like manner and sent home. Their mother 

 drove them out of the lodge, whence they went and sat down on the 

 rocks with their father and six brothers. 



After his brothers had gone home Ot'hegwenhda, taking out the 

 fetish, asked it, " Is there anything on the northeastern trail ?" " Not 

 much. Still you will save some people, if you go there," was the 

 reply. " Is there trouble in the northwest?" the youth asked. " Yes; 

 but not very much," was the answer. Keeping on to the end of the 

 northwestern trail, Ot'hegwenhda found a lodge without a door, at 

 which he thought, " How can I get into this lodge ?" Peeping through 

 a crack, he saw within an old woman of the Onweaunt people, who 

 was singing, " Ot'hegwenhda is coming, Ot'hegwenhda is coming." 

 " Well, she laiows I am here," thought the boy. Presently, saying, 

 " I will go out and play," she went into a small but very deep lake, 

 called Dyunyudenodes, also Dedyoendjongoqden,^^^ going way down 

 into the water. After a while her tail appeared moving around in 

 a circle on the water. As the lake was very small she was near the 

 shore. The boy saw on the tail two small objects like fins, which in 

 rubbing against each other made music. After the old woman had 

 played a while, she started to come out. Seeing the boy, she said, 

 " My grandson, do not kill me ; I never killed any of your people." 

 " If you give me something, I won't kill you," answered the boy. 

 "Well, I will give you one of these points on my tail;" and taking 

 off one, she said, "Keep this; it is good to find out your luck with." 

 "What shall I do when I want to use it?" asked the youth. "Put 

 it under your head when you go to sleep; you will have a dream, and 

 the dream will tell you what you want to know," she replied. 

 94615°— 18 ^25 



