446 SENECA FICTION, LEGENDS, AND MYTHS [eth. ann. 82 



When the boys arrived near home they heard singing, whereupon 

 the younger said, " Our father is feeling bad because he thinks we are 

 dead." The other replied, " When we get to the lodge, you will 

 tell him of our adventure." " No ; you nnist tell him. He will be- 

 lieve you sooner than he will me, for you are older," was the answer. 

 AVhen they entered the lodge, the hunter was sitting by the fire; his 

 song was about the loss of his children. " Father," called out the 

 boys, " we have been hunting and we have come back. We have not 

 been killed and we shall not die. There is no trouble in the world 

 for us, for nothing can harm us." The elder man, looking around, 

 greeted his boys, whom he was very glad to see. At night they began 

 telling their adventures: How far they had been; how they had seen 

 a stream of dry land and had ridden on it to the Genonsgwa lodge; 

 how they had killed the two Genonsgwa and burned their lodge. 

 "And now," said the younger," " we are going farther." The hunter 

 said : " Your uncles are ferocious men ; they have killed all my people 

 except you. You will find beyond the lodge you burned other 

 lodges ; they are all inhabited by your uncles." The younger boy said : 

 " I do not care about them. I meet all people with pleasure ; their 

 action or treatment matters not. I am determined to try every- 

 thing." The man made up his mind to say no more; he was aston- 

 ished at their resolution and became aware that his children were 

 possessed of potent orenda (magic power), and that, though there 

 were many witches and wizards, they were far above them all. The 

 younger boy seemed to have control of his father's mind, and it was 

 through his influence that the father let them do as they liked. The 

 advice of the younger was : " You stay at home and never worry 

 nbout us. We will go to see our uncle who lives beyond Genonsgwa 

 lodge; perhaps he will tell us some stories. We are lonesome." 

 Their father said, " I am afraid that if you go you will never come 

 back. Your uncle is full of orenda, and it is his custom to kill his 

 visitors." The little fellow answered : " Let us go. I want to know 

 all persons who possess orenda." The hunter replied : " Beyond 

 the lodge you destroyed is another. Your uncle lives there, and 

 beyond that other uncles dwell. The first lodge is 'three loolis' 

 from here ; the lodges are all ' three looks ' apart." Having heard 

 this, the boys departed. 



When they came to the Genonsgwa place they halted; looking 

 around, they could see some object at a distance. There was the end 

 of the fii-st " look." Getting near to that object, they looked again, 

 and seeing a similar object, they went to it; then looking off at a 

 distance and seeing an opening in the woods, they said, "Our uncle 

 must live there." They advanced cautiously, in the hope of surpris- 

 ing their uncle. As they got out of the woods they saw a lodge, 

 and as they came near it there seemed to be no one in it, all was so 



