SMITH.) THE GUILTY HUNTERS. 99 



was ou the water when the women rushed out. They threw a long tish 

 line and cauglit bis canoe to pull him in, but he cut it and got loose. 

 Again the second threw a line and caught him, but again he cut loose, 

 and so ou till they had no lines left. So he reached home at length, 

 fearful lest he should find that bis brother bad died during his absence, 

 but be found him still barely alive, and shouted, "Now, brother, I'm 

 home with the chestnuts, will you bavo your pipe!" And he began 

 cooking just as his brother liked them, and he narrated all his exploits, 

 and the brother said, "You have done me a great favor, now I shall be 

 well, and we will be happy." 



THE GUILTY HUNTERS. 



There was a certain tribe whose main occupation was to hunt and to 

 fish. In one of its hunting excursions two families of different clans of 

 this tribe happened to pitch their respective camps quite near to each 

 other. One of these families, in which there was an infant, bad very 

 fine luck and the other poor luck. While the father of the child was 

 out hunting, the mother went to a neighboring stream to get some 

 water, but before she dippetl her vessel she looked into the water and 

 saw, peering up through the sparkling stream, a very handsome young 

 man with painted cheeks. When her husband returned she told him 

 what she had seen, and, after a consultation, they came to the conclu- 

 sion that something strange was about to happen, for what the woman 

 had seen was but the reflection of some one hidden in Ibe branches 

 overhanging the stream. They rightly judged that this was an evil 

 omen, and naturally knew that something must be done to avert the 

 impending misfortune, for the woman said that she recognized the face 

 as that of a man from the adjoining camp. 



When night came the husband said to his wife, "You and the child 

 must be saved. Go; I shall meet misfortune alone." She then started 

 with the child through the forest, and went on until she came to a hol- 

 low log, into which she crept, and then she beard a great noise in the 

 camp, and a voice saying, "You have bitten me." Soon she saw the 

 light of torches borne by people searching for ber and the child; nearer 

 and nearer they came, until they reached the log (ber hiding-place), into 

 which they pushed their sticks, but the woman remained quiet, and 

 heard them say, "She must be somewhere near here; any way, she can- 

 not live long." She waited until they had left and all was quiet before 

 she emerged from her refuge, and then traveled on as fast as she could 

 until morning, when she came upon a trail, to which, instead of follow- 

 ing it, she took a parallel course, and did not see any signs of life until 

 she came to an opening, which appeared like a camping-ground. In the 



