340 MYTHS OF THE CHEROKEE [etii.ann,19 



just look ov(ir ttl(^ ftdy-e iiiul see the heads aiul sliouhlers of a great many 

 peoples dancing inside. He saw his sister dancing among them and 

 caUed to her to come out. She turned when she heard his voice, and 

 as soon as the drumming stopped for a while she came out to him, 

 finding no trouble to climb down the rock, and leading her two little 

 children by the hand. She was very glad to meet her brother and 

 talked with him a long time, but did not ask him to come inside, and 

 at last he went awa}' without havihg seen her husband. 



Several other times her brother came to the mountain, but always 

 his sister met him outside, and he could never see her luisljand. After 

 four years had passed she came one day to her mother's house and 

 said her husband had 1)een hunting in the woods near by. and they were 

 getting ready to start home to-morrow, and if her mothei'and brother 

 would come early in the morning they could see her hu.sband. If they 

 came too late for that, she said, they would find plenty of meat to 

 take home. She went back into the woods, and the mother ran to tell 

 her son. They came to the place early the next morning, but Tsul'- 

 kalu' and his family were already gone. On the drying poles they 

 found the bodies of freshly killed deer hanging, as the girl had prom- 

 ised, and there were so many that they went back and told all their 

 friends to come for them, and there were enough for the whole settle- 

 ment. 



Still the brother wanted to see his sister and her husband, so he 

 went again to the mountain, and she came out to meet him. He asked 

 to see her husband, and this time she told him to come inside with her. 

 They went in as through a doorway, and inside he found it like a great 

 townhouse. They seemed to be alone, but his sister called aloud. "He 

 wants to see you," and from the air came a voice, "You can not see 

 me until you put on a new dress, and then you can see me." "I am 

 willing." said the young man, speaking to the unseen spirit, and from 

 the air came the voice again. "Go back, then, and tell your people 

 that to see me they must go into the townhouse and fast seven days, 

 and in all that time they must not come out from the townhouse or 

 raise the war whoop, and on the seventh day I shall come with new 

 dresses for you to put on so that you can all see me. " 



The young man went bade to Kaiuiga and told the people. They all 

 wanted to see Tsui kalii', who owned all the game in the mountains, 

 so they went into the townhouse and began the fast. They fasted 

 the first day and the second and every da_v until the seventh — all but 

 one man from another settlement, who slipped out every night when 

 it was dark to get something to eat and slipped in again when no one 

 was watching. On the morning of the seventh day the sun was just 

 coming up in the east when they heard a great noise like the thunder of 

 rocks rolling down the side of Tsunegufi'yi. They were frightened 

 and drew near together in the townhouse, and no one whispered. 



