124 THE MENOMINI INDIANS [eth.ann.14 



away from home hunting. Now, the fame of the young warrior became 

 so well known that all who knew him feared him; but one man, the 

 lover of the young wife, openly said that he was not afraid of the hus- 

 band, and dared him. So the lover and the young wife, awaiting an 

 opportunity to run away during the young warrior's absence, left the 

 wigwam and went to a high cliff, in the face of which was a small 

 opening. There they secreted themselves. 



"When the young warrior returned to his wigwam he found that his 

 child had cried so much at the loss of its mother that it was supposed 

 to be dying. The father of the faithless wife then commanded his sec- 

 ond daughter to go and care for the child, while the young warrior 

 started away to overtake the runaway couple. He began to make a 

 circuit about the camp, widening the circle at each turn so that no place 

 would escape his attention, and that he might find their trail. When 

 he had traveled long and far, he found himself in a valley opposite a 

 high cliff, and looking up he saw his wife's red leggings projecting from 

 a small cavern. He recognized these, because his wife wore red gar- 

 ments entirely, even down to her leggings. He saw, also, the project- 

 ing legs and feet of his false friend. Then going in the nearest possible 

 direction to the summit of the cliff, where he could look down, he could 

 scarcely understand how the couple had succeeded in gaining access 

 to so inaccessible a spot, but called out, 'Wife, come up here to the top 

 of the rock; I want you.' The wife, seeing that they were discovered, 

 replied, 'Husband, is that you 1 ? I am coming up;' and with that she 

 climbed up the narrow ledge to where her husband stood. He took 

 her by the arm and led her a short distance away from the edge of the 

 cliff, where he told her to remain and wait for him. Then the young 

 warrior cut a forked stick, and sharpening the two prongs with his ax, 

 went to the cliff and called to the lover to come up. As soon as the 

 man responded by coming out of the cavern, the young warrior thrust 

 down the forked stick so that one point passed on each side of his 

 neck, and, giving him a hard thrust, threw the man down over the cliff, 

 where his body was dashed to pieces on the rocks below. 



"Then, returning to where his wife stood, the young warrior brought 

 her to the edge of the cliff, and while she shrieked with fear he grasped 

 her by both arms and, raising her above his head, he cast her out over 

 the cliff, where her body went flying down among the rocks beneath. 

 The woman fell on her head with such violence that she was forced into 

 a rounded mass. 



"Having accomplished his revenge, he returned to his wigwam and 

 told the parents of the two dead ones to get the bodies and bury 

 them. He said that he was determined to punish such faithlessness, 

 and everybody, even the parents of the woman and her lover, said that 

 the young warrior had done what was right. 



"The second daughter of the neighbor, who had been sent to the 

 young warrior's wigwam to care for the deserted child, took such good 



