THE CODE OF HANDSOME LAKE 1 7 



abode of him whom I seek." Immediately he put on his clothes 

 and went to the men who had taught him and they wondered and 

 said, " Indeed it must be as you say." So then together they went 

 to the river and when they came to the shore they saw that it was 

 spanned by a bridge of shining gold. Then one of the great 

 preachers fell down and read from his book a long prayer and aris- 

 ing he turned his back upon the island and fled for he was afraid 

 to meet the lord. Then with the young man the other crossed the 

 bridge and he knelt on the grass and he cried loud and groaned his 

 prayer but when he arose to his feet he too fled and would not 

 look again at the house — the castle of gold. 



Then was the young man disgusted and boldly he strode toward 

 the house to attend to the business which he had in mind. He did 

 not cry or pray and neither did he fall to his knees for he was not 

 afraid. He knocked at the door and a handsome smiling man 

 welcomed him in and said, " Do not be afraid of me." Then the 

 smiling man in the castle of gold said, " I have wanted a young man 

 such as you for some time. You are wise and afraid of nobody. 

 Those older men were fools and would not have listened to me 

 (direct) though they might listen to some one whom I had in- 

 structed. Listen to me and most truly you shall be rich. Across 

 the ocean that lies toward the sunset is another world and a great 

 country and a people whom you have never seen. Those people 

 are virtuous, they have no unnatural evil habits and they are 

 honest. A great reward is yours if you will help me. Here are five 

 things that men and women enjoy; take them to these people and 

 make them as white men are. Then shall you be rich and powerful 

 and you may become the chief of all great preachers here." 



So then the young man took the bundle containing the five 

 things and made the bargain. He left the island and looking back 

 saw that 'the bridge had disappeared and before he had turned his 

 head the castle had gone and then as he looked the island itself 

 vanished. 



Now then the young man wondered if indeed he had seen his lord 

 for his mind had been so full of business that he had forgotten to 

 ask. So he opened his bundle of five things and found a flask of 

 rum, a pack of playing cards, a handful of coins, a violin and a 

 decayed leg bone. Then he thought the things very strange and 

 he wondered if indeed his lord would send such gifts to the people 

 across the water of the salt lake ; but he remembered his promise, 



