MOONEY] THE SriKIT DEFENDERS OF NlKWASl' 337 



fight, iiiul tho most curious thiiij^ about it all was that thov hocainc 

 invisible as soon as thoy were, fairly outsidi' of the sottlcnicut. so that 

 althouiih tho cnouiy saw the lilaiiciiiy arrow or the rushiiio- tomahawk, 

 and felt the stroke, he vouU\ not set? who sent it. Before sueh invis- 

 ible foes the invaders soon had to retreat, going tirst south along the, 

 ridge to where join.s the main i-idge which separates the Frencii 15road 

 from the Tuckasegee. and tiien turning with it to the northeast. As 

 they retreated they tried to shield themselves behind rocks and tret^s, 

 but tiie Nuiine'lii arrows went around the rocks and killed them from 

 the other side, and they could Hnd no iiiding place. All along the 

 ridge they fell, until when they reached the head of Tuckasegee not 

 more than half a dozen were left alive, and in despair they sat down 

 and cried out for mercy. Ever since then the Cherokee have called 

 the place Dayulsufi'j'i, "'Where they cried." Then the Nunne'lii ciiief 

 told them they had deserved their |)unishment for attacking a peaceful 

 tribe, and he spared their lives and told them to go home and take the 

 news to their people. This was the Indian custom, always to spare a 

 few to carry l)ack the news of defeat. They went home towar<l the 

 north and the Nufine'hi went back to the mound. 



And they are still there, because, in the last war, when a strong 

 party of Federal troops came to surprise a handful of (-onf(>dt>rates 

 posted there they saw so many soldiers guarding the town that they 

 were afraid and went away witliout making an attack. 



* •<■ v^ vL * ■:;■ K 



There is another story, that once while all the warriors of a certain 

 town were .oflF on a hunt, or at a dance in another settlement, one old 

 man wa.s chopping wood on the side of the ridge when suddenly a 

 part}' of the enemy came upon him — Shawano, Seneca, or some other 

 tribe. Throwing his hatchet at the nearest one, he turned and ran for 

 the house to get his gun and make the best defensi^that he might. On 

 coming out at once with thc> giui he was surprised to find a large bod\- 

 of strange warriors driving back the enemy. It was no time for (|ues- 

 tions, and taking his place with the others, they fought hard until the 

 enemy was pressed back up the creek and tinall}' broke and retreated 

 across the mountain. When it was over and there was time to breathe 

 again, the old man turned to thank his new friends, but foiuid that he 

 was alone — the}- had disappeared as though the mountain had swid- 

 lowed them. Then he knew that thej' were the Nufine'hi. who had 

 come to help their friends, the Cherokee. 



8i. TSUL'KALO', the SLANT-EYED GIANT 



A long time ago a widow livi'd with her one daughter at the old 

 town of Kanuga on Pigeon river. The girl was of age to marry, and 

 her mother used to talk with her a good deal, and tell her she nuist 



1!> F.TH— <ll 22 



