HBwS] LEGENDS 393 



Now, the home of the sisters was on the shore of this lake, but they 

 had camped in the middle of its Maters in order to see how the 

 four men would act and to ascertain what orenda they had. 



Pearly in the night the women came to the camp of the men but did 

 not sleep with them, returning to their own camp instead. In the 

 morning the women went to their home on the shore of the lake. 

 Allien the}' arrived there their mother asked them, ""\Vliat husband 

 has the most orenda?" They answered unanimously, " Olcteondon." 

 AVhen the men awoke in the morning they saw the shore of the lake 

 lined with great crowds of people, who were expecting the return of 

 the women with their husbands. When ready to start, Okteondon 

 said to the three men, "We will now go to the women, but you must 

 be very cautious and must not look up at the people." Then the four 

 men started from their camp on the ice for the shore. Wlien they 

 had gone but a short di-stance, three of them heard a voice singing, 

 Gum'" wcfonemon' dV , which means, " Lo ! It is raining bones." 

 These words were heard a second time, sounding nearer; then sud- 

 denly the men heard a swift rushing sound, and a mass of dry bones 

 swept rustling past them on the ice.^** Okteondon steadied his re- 

 maining friends with the curt remark, " One of us has looked up." At 

 that moment all the j^eople on the shore suddenly disappeai'ed, with 

 the exception of the old woman [Kahenchitahonk], a noted witch, 

 the mother of the gii'ls who were bringing home their husljands. 

 She walked back and forth along the shore, singing : " Okteondon is 

 my son-in-law. Okteondon is my son-in-law." When Okteondon and 

 his two remaining companions reached the shore, the old woman, 

 after inviting the men to follow her, started for her home. Having 

 arrived there, she said, "I am going to see whether my daughters 

 have prepared something to eat ; so you wait here until I return." 

 Now the lodge of the old woman was built of ice. So while she was 

 away, Okteondon, taking a small bundle of sticks, said, "Let these 

 burn ! " Straightway the pile of sticks became large and took fire, 

 burning so briskly as to give out great heat. Then Okteondon said 

 to the two men: "The old woman will bring food for us to eat, but 

 you two must not eat it. I alone will eat it, for it will not hurt me." 

 So saying, he made a hole through the ice into which he thrust a reed. 

 In a short time the old woman i-eturned, saying: " Son-in-law, I have 

 brought you a small quantity of something to eat. It is the custom, 

 you know, to eat only a little after a long journey." Taking the bark 

 bowl, Okteondon ate all the food, which ran through the reed into 

 the gi-ound. This food was hominy (snow) and bloodsuckers 

 (clouds). In a short time the old woman returned with another 

 bowl, saying: " I have brought more for you to eat. This is hominy 

 cooked with maple sugar" (it was wild flint that floats on water). 

 Now the lodge of the old woman was becoming full of holes from the 



