%l"^{^] TRADITIONS 449 



We have done harm enough." " AA'hat have we done ? " said the 

 other; " we have only put an end to man-eaters, who have killed many 

 of our people." " Very well," answered the other, " I do not want 

 m}' mind to be diflferent from yours." 



" There is one thing still to be done," said the younger brother, 

 " and when we have finished that, everything will be right ; but before 

 we undertake it we must purifj' ourselves. We will go to the ri^er; 

 you must be very careful. I will go first, and you stay on the bank. 

 Unless we bathe and purify our bodies, we shall meet with misfor- 

 tune, for many of the people where we are going are filled with evil 

 magic power." Coming to the river, they found very thick red 

 water. The elder j'outh, seeing the younger go into this water, 

 thought it must be a great pleasure ; so without heeding his compan- 

 ion's word of warning, he went in also, whereupon the filth of the 

 water gathered on his body and he sank out of sight. His brother 

 had great trouble in saving him. " Perhaps we are sufficient!}- puri- 

 fied," said the younger; "though if you had waited until I called 

 you, it would have been better. You have caused me to fail in my 

 purpose." All the filth that had gathered on his body dried, so he 

 could hardly close his eyes. It was as much as the other could do to 

 get him washed clean. At last he was as before he jumped into the 

 red water. Then his companion said : " Xow, let us go. We shall 

 come to a large village where there is ball playing." 



They soon came to an opening, in the center of which stood a pole, 

 and many people were scattered around. As the two went forward 

 the younger said to the chief, " We ha.ve come to challenge you. What 

 are your rules?" "We wager our heads in betting," replied the 

 chief. " I thought you had something else to wager. Everyone seems 

 to bet heads," said the challenger. He saw there were many animals 

 around, which these people fed with heads. " There must be two on 

 a side," said the boy. The chief told his people that the strangers 

 challenged them to a game of lacrosse ball and that there were to be 

 two pla^^ers on a side. "But you must take part yourself," said the 

 boy; thereupon commanding a spider to weave a web across the ball 

 ground, so that the ball could not pass it. When the game began the 

 ball flew off in the direction of the spider's web and, hitting it, was 

 thrown back. The elder boy, catching the ball, ran for the fir.st point, 

 which he made, thus scoring one point, at which he called out, " The 

 game is mine; we have won, and the game is finished." "No; it "s 

 not," replied the chief. " That is the way we play," retorted the 

 younger boy; whoever gets one inning has the game." The chief 

 assented, saying, " You have won the heads of the men you played 

 with." " Not true," said the boy ; " we bet with you ; no matter who 

 did the playing for you." Thereupon the elder boy, running up, 

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