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



saying, " Come out, uncle ! " The old man came out, laughing, and 

 said, "My little nephew, you are full of sorcery; no one ever found 

 me before." The boy said, " It is customary when a person makes 

 a bet to live up to it. You have lost your head." The man begged 

 his nephews to give him time to smoke. " No," said the younger ; 

 " ii you had won, I should not have asked it." Upon this he ran up. 

 and catching his uncle by the hair, cut off his head. Thereupon the 

 elder boy picked it up, and striking it against a tree, commanded 

 that trees should hereafter have heads (knots) on them, which could 

 be used to make ladles and bowls (to this day all trees with knots 

 have the uncle's head fastened on them). Then they burned the 

 home. The elder boy said, " Our uncle has delayed us; otherwise we 

 might have been a long way on our journey by this time." 



The youths traveled on until tliey found tracks, and not long after- 

 ward they came to the edge of the woods, where they saw a lodge 

 near by. The younger said, " You stop, and I will go to this lodge 

 alone." The elder boy saw his brother go into the lodge ; then he 

 waited a long time. There were four witches in this lodge, and as 

 soon as the boy. went in the old woman said, " Hurry up ! get the 

 pot over the fire." The boy looked on, thinking that very likely they 

 were going to make a feast for him. The girls were sisters of the 

 boys' uncles. The elder boy getting out of patience waiting, at last 

 called his fetish, the mole. When it came, he said: "I have called 

 you to take me to that lodge. My friend went there, and I wish to 

 see what has become of him." Thej^ went- together into the ground. 

 He told the mole to stop in front of the younger boy, but under- 

 ground. The women were such witches that they knew when anyone 

 was approaching. When the old woman was ready, she said to the 

 boy, " Come and sit on this side," and to her eldest daughter she said, 

 " Lay a skin on the ground and put on the skin the game that has 

 come to see us." The boy knew that she intended to kill him. An- 

 other of the women took a mallet from the wall, but as she raised it 

 to strike him, the youth said, " Let the mallet strike the old woman." 

 As the mallet came down, it struck the mother; and as the girl raised 

 it again, he commanded it to strike one of the sisters, whereupon they 

 began immediately to fight among themselves. The boy sat com- 

 manding the mallet to strike first one and then another. There was a 

 terrible struggle, a great sound of blows, and at last there was silence. 

 All the women were dead. Then a voice from under the ground 

 asked, "What are you doing, brother?" Knowing that it was his 

 comrade who spoke, he said, " Oh ! the women have had a little sport 

 of their own." "All right," said a voice behind him, for there stood 

 the other boy. "I got out of patience," said he; "we might have 

 gone a long way on our journey if it had not been for these women. 

 We will burn up their lodge, after which I think we will go home. 



