M'X'NKV] TllK KACiLE S KKVENOE 2il8 



Early next inoriiiiii;' li(> stai'tcd otl' with his hoo over liis sliouldcr. 

 ^\'h(■ll hreukt'ast was roady the old woman went again to eall him, hut 

 found no sijin of liini. only tlic hoc lying' there and no work done. 

 And away over in the thicket a huhu was calling-, '"" Sau-Iil kuh-Ii! 

 xdH-l,! hu! Int.' hu! Ini! h<i! h„! eh}! rhl! chl!-whrwl" 



8he went back to the house, and when at la«t he came Ikiiuc in the 

 cxcning she asked him again what \w had been doing all day. " Work- 

 ing hard," said he. " IJut you were not there when I came aftei' you."' 

 "O, I just went over in the thicket a while to see some of my kins- 

 folk," said he. Then the old woman said, '" I have lived here a long- 

 time and there is nothing- living in the swamp but huhus. My daugh- 

 ter wants a husband that can work and not a lazy huhu; so you may 

 g'o." And she drove him from the house. 



46. WHY THE BUZZARD'S HEAD IS BARE 



The buzzard used to have a tine topknot, of which he was so proud 

 that he refused to eat carrion, and while the other birds were pecking 

 at the body of a deer or other animal which they had found he would 

 strut around and say: '"You may have it all, it is not good enough for 

 me." They resolved to punish him, and with the help of the buHalo 

 carried out a plot by which the buzzard lost not his topknot alone, but 

 nearly all the other feathers on his head. He lost his pride at the 

 same time, so that he is willing enough now to eat carrion for a living. 



47. THE EAGLE'S REVENGE 



Once a hunter in the mountains heard a noise at night like a rushin"- 

 w ind outside the cabin, and on going out he found that an eagle had 

 just alighted on the drying i)olc and was tearing at the body of a deer 

 hanging there, ^^'ithout thinking of the danger, he shot the eagle. 

 In the morning he took the deer and started back to the settlement, 

 where he told what he had done, and the chief sent out some men to 

 bring in the eagle and arrange for an Eagle dance. They brought 

 back the dead eagle, everything was made ready, and that night they 

 started the dance in the townhouse. 



.\l)out midnight there was a w'hoop outside and a strange warrior 

 came into the circle and began to recite his exploits. No oni> kn(>w 

 hiui. but they thought he had come from one of the farther C"h(!rokee 

 towns. Iii> told how he had killed a man. and at the end of the story 

 he gave a hoarse yell, //•/.' that startled the whole company, and one of 

 the seven men with the rattles fell over dead. He sang of another 

 deed, and at the end straightened up with anothei- loud yell. A second 

 rattler fell dead, and the people were so full of fear that they could 

 not stir from their places. Still he kept on, and at every pause there 

 came again that terrii)le scream, until the last of the seven rattlers fell 

 dead, and then the stranger went out into the darkness. Long after- 



