198 THE MENOMINI INDIANS [eth.axn.u 



When the bears reached the spot where the boy had disappeared 

 they were more angry than before, and soon tore np every bit of the 

 growing brush. They then discovered where his footprints ended, and 

 at once entered the arrow hole and followed him. When the boy heard 

 the bears following his tracks, he again disappeared beneath the sur- 

 face and did not emerge until he had traveled some distance along 

 under the prairie, when he once more came to the surface and ran with 

 all his might. 



The bears were again delayed when they reached the tree where the 

 boy had rested, but after finding the course he had taken they started 

 in pursuit, ascending to the surface of the prairie, where they saw the 

 boy far in the distance. 



The chase was a long one, and in time the boy began to tire and the 

 bears to gain on him, so that he was compelled to take his last arrow, 

 which he fixed to the string of his bow and shot into the air, saying, 

 "When you come down there shall be about you a marsh filled with 

 pe'onas'kinuk (cat-tails), from the middle of which there shall be a 

 trail; by that shall I escape." 



When the arrow descended the boy found himself in the midst of a 

 large marsh, and from his feet forward a trail of firm ground, which 

 enabled him to continue running whilst the bears struggled in the mud 

 and amongst the cat-tails. After a while the bears also found the trail, 

 and renewed their pursuit of the boy, giving him no opportunity for a 

 moment's rest. As they neared him, the bears shouted, "We are now 

 close upon you, and in a short time we will catch you and kill you!" 

 Then the boy remembered the stone which his sister had given him, and 

 taking it out of his pouch he put it in a striyj of buckskin and slung it 

 round several times above his head, then threw it forward on the prairie, 

 saying, "As I sling this it will cause a long high rock to appear, upon 

 which I shall take refuge." The little stone bounded and rolled along 

 over the ground and suddenly became transformed into a steep, high 

 cliff with a flat top and with many loose stones lying about the edge. 

 As the boy reached the cliff he clambered to the summit and looked 

 over the edge to watch the bears. The bears ran around the base, look- 

 ing for the boy everywhere, and when they appeared beneath the boy, 

 he began to roll over the large loose stones upon them, killing a great 

 many and breaking the bones and otherwise disabling others. While 

 the unharmed bears, who were even more astonished at what had trans- 

 pired, went to look at their killed and wounded companions, the boy 

 hastily descended on the opposite side of the cliff and started out in a 

 new direction to escape. 



After gazing awhile at their dead and wounded companions the 

 unmaimed bears began to look for the boy, but neither hearing nor 

 seeing him they suspected that he had escaped, and at once began to 

 search for footprints leading away from the rock. When these were 

 found, the bears followed in pursuit until they were almost certain of 

 capturing their enemy. 



