hoffman] THE MYSTIC TOBACCO 187 



When tbe sou of the old man went out to find the hunter, he 

 approached him in a very threatening manner and made gestures as if 

 he were going to club the hunter to death. The hunter, however, only 

 smiled at the young man's actions, whereupon the latter dropped his 

 club, and approaching the hunter said to him, " Come to my father, 

 my brother, as he wishes to see you; he says you must be Nauo'kupii'q- 

 kweni'sitii v , who is to become my brother-in law." The hunter arose, 

 pleased at the invitation, and followed the young man to the wigwam, 

 where he was met by the old man, who bade him enter and be seated. 



The old man then said to him, " My son, you must be Nano'kupa'q- 

 kweni'sitii", of whose coming I have been aware; you are to become 

 my son-in-law." 



The hunter replied, "Yes, I am known by that name, and by what 

 the Wolf told me, you are no doubt the chief of this village." 



"Yes," replied the old man, " I am the chief of this village, which is 

 occupied by the Elk people ; but the other village, which you see yonder, 

 belongs to the Moose people, with whom we have not fared very well 

 of late." 



Then, calling forward his daughter, the old man continued, " This, 

 my son, is my only daughter, who is to become your wife. Take her if 

 you desire." Then bidding the girl to advance where the hunter could 

 behold her comeliness, she went toward the stranger a few paces, where 

 she stood abashed and with downcast eyes. The hunter admired her, 

 and stepping forward took her by the hand and led her toward the seat 

 he had occupied, saying to the old man, " I will take her, my father, 

 and remain with you until we have conquered the Moose people." 



To signify that he was well pleased with his choice, and to honor his 

 father-in-law, the young hunter pulled forth from his pouch a short 

 piece of tobacco, which he broke in two, retaining one portion for him- 

 self, and handing the other to his wife, saying, "Give this to your 

 father that we may have a smoke." She took it and handed it to her 

 father, who rubbed it between the palms of his hands, whereupon 

 tobacco kept dropping to the ground in such quantities that there was 

 a great heap, sufficient to last for many days. Portions of it were sent 

 to every person in the village, and yet there did not appear to be any 

 diminution in the quantity of tobacco. The act of sending out tobacco 

 to all the people was intended to inform them that the old man had 

 now a son-in-law, by which they also learned that the stranger was 

 Nauo'luipa'qkweni / sita T , of whom they had heard through the old man. 



The Moose people hearing of the events which were transpiring in 

 the village of the Elk people, came on a visit to the Elk people a few 

 days later, saying to the new wife of Nano'kupa'qkweni'sita 1 , "Our 

 women have come to play a game with your husband, to see whether 

 he is better at playing with plum-stones than we are." The girl 

 informed her husband what the Moose people said, and told him, " Be 

 careful, my husband, because they are good players, and if you lose 



