6MITH,] THE THUNDERERS. 57 



there was a drought, it was their duty to bring rain ; if there were ser- 

 pents or other noxious creatures, they were commissioned to destroy 

 them, and, in short, to do away with everything injurious to mankind. 

 They told him that their present object was to destroy the old man to 

 whom he had bound himself, and who, as they would show him, was a 

 Tery different sort of being from what he pretended to be. For this 

 they required his aid. If he would assist them he would do a good act, 

 and they would convey him back to his home, where he would see his 

 mother and be able to take care of her. This proposal and their assur- 

 ances overcame any reluctance the young man might have felt to sacri- 

 fice his seeming benefactor. He went to him and told him that he had 

 killed a bear and needed his help to bring it home. The old mau was 

 anxious and uneasy. He bade the youth examine the sky carefully and 

 see if there was the smallest speck of cloud visible. The youugtman 

 replied that the- sky was perfectly clear. The old man then came out of 

 the hollow and followed the young hunter, urging him constantly to 

 make haste, and looking upward with great anxiety. When they reached 

 the bear they cut it up hurriedly with their knives, and the old man 

 directed the youth to place it all on his shoulders. The youth complied, 

 though much astonished at his companion's strength. The old man set 

 off hastily for the pit, but just then a cloud appeared and the thunder 

 rumbled in the distance. The old man threw down his load and started 

 to run. The thunder rumbled nearer, and the old man assumed his 

 proper form of an enormous porcupine, which fled through the bushes, 

 discliai'ging its quills like arrows backward as it ran. But the thunder 

 followed him, with burst upon burst, and finally a bolt struck the huge 

 animal, which fell lifeless into its den. 



Then the Thunderers said to the young man, "Now, that we have 

 done our work here, we will take you to your home and your mother, 

 who is grieving for you all the time." 



They gave him a dress like that which they wore, a cloud like robe, 

 having wings on its shoulders, and told him how these were to be moved. 

 Then he rose with them in the air, and soon found himself in his mother's 

 cornfield. It was night. He went to her cabin, and drew aside the mat 

 which covered the opening. The widow started up and gazed at him 

 in the moonlight with terror, thinking that she saw her son's ghost. 

 He guessed her thoughts. "Do not be alarmed, mother," he said ; "it 

 is no ghost. It is your son come back to take care of you." As may 

 be supjjosed, the poor woman was overjoyed, and welcomed her long- 

 lost son with delight. He remained with her, fulfilling his duties as 

 a son, for the rest of the year. What was done to his treacherous 

 comrades is not recorded. They were too insignificant to be further 

 noticed in the story, which now assumes a more decided mythological 

 character. 



When the Thunderers bade farewell to the young man they said to 

 him, "We will leave the cloud-dress with jou. Every spring, when we 



