denio] THE ASSINTBOIN 501 



stance, and the eldest said, u You did right, my sister — had you 

 listened to this man's sweet words and looked upon his face, you 

 would have been obliged to follow him wherever he went, without 

 the power to stop or turn back/' She said nothing but continued 

 her labors and they again left to hunt. 



Being anxious to ascertain the truth concerning the stranger and 

 expecting his visit, she put on four complete suits of raiment and 

 four pairs of moccasins, one on top of the other; also tied on a pair 

 of snowshoes. He came and used the same flattering words, when 

 she stepped outside and looked upon his face. He immediately de- 

 parted at a swift pace and she was obliged to follow in his tracks. 

 Onward they traveled far over the plains in a northerly direction 

 and over immense piles of snow. A long time passed without dimin- 

 ishing their speed, until at length the} 7 came to a lodge full of 

 men (beings). Her conductor entered and disappeared, she fol- 

 lowed and not seeing him took her seat near the door. " Move to the 

 next,'' said the man at her side, " I am not he whom you seek," and 

 she moved where he directed. " Farther on," said her neighbor, and 

 she again changed her place. " Next," said the other, and she moved 

 in this way from one to the other, until by making the circuit of the 

 lodge she at last found herself at the entrance without seeing the 

 one whom she had followed hither. She was about to leave the lodge 

 when the eldest Indian, apparently the master, said, " Kemain, I will 

 tell you a story." She stopped. " There was once a woman," he 

 continued, " who ran off with a young man, and came to a lodge full 

 of strangers to seek her lover. She had on four entire dresses, ami 

 not finding the man, would have left, but one of her dresses fell oft'."- 1 



On saying this, an entire dress and pair of moccasins disappeared. 

 He repeated the words four times and at the end of each repetition 

 a dress was missing, which left her naked. They then took her up 

 and cast her out into the cold snow to freeze to death. 



The brothers on their return from hunting missed their sister and 

 suspecting the cause of her departure followed the tracks and arrived 

 outside the lodge where they found their sister nearly frozen to 

 death. After wrapping her in a robe, and she had somewhat recov- 

 ered, the eldest brother said, "Go back into the lodge and tell them a 

 story in return." She entered ami said. " I come to tell a tale. There 

 was once a woman coaxed off and forced to follow a strange man. 

 She came to a lodge of strangers, who instead of protecting her, 

 robbed her of all her clothing and threw her out in the snow to die. 

 Such men have no hearts." On concluding, the hearts of all the 

 Indians inside flew out of their mouths and stuck to the lodge poles 



21 This remark recalls the story of tbe Babylonian Ishtar, who was represented as 

 losing one by one her seven garments and then as receiving them back ag tin uue by one. 



