98 BULLETIN, PUBLIC MUSEUM, MILWAUKEE. [ Vol. III. 



dig out the black earth, for it was not good that the bodies should 

 lie in the ground that had been polluted. This they did, making the 

 head deep to hold the dead, and the body less, and the tail shallow. 



"Then the girl, who was wise in the ways of the old people, 

 threw in the shining sands, red and gold, without number, and 

 each time she threw in a layer the people tramped it down. Then 

 they placed the body of their chief upon the shining sands, and 

 built a great fire over him, and mourned for many days. 



"Then the young girl was taken sick, and being able to see 

 the future, she knew that she would die. So she bade the people 

 bury her in the panther pile, along with the old medicine man, and 

 above the great chief. The people then made a new bed of shining 

 sands for these two over the ashes of the great fire, and marked the 

 place where they were buried with a circle of fires. 



"Then they cut down many trees in the forest, and built a great 

 fire all over the panther pile, and transformed it into a panther 

 of fire. So had the ancients done, and so had the girl instructed 

 them. And into the fire they cast all their tools and the belongings 

 of the dead, and the fire panther devoured them. Then they stole 

 away, and the forest again was silent. 



IV. 



"Many winters passed, until I grew weary of watching. Then 

 again they came, but only a pitiful remnant. They travelled fast 

 and in silence, as though pursued by some powerful enemy. They 

 stopped at the point, and brought ashore two small children, 

 wrapped for burial. Their war chief whispered to their medicine 

 man, and pointed up the river. Then I knew that he was saying 

 that they must make haste and could not stop to dig another panther 

 in the ground. So they dug into one of the sleeping bear piles of the 

 old people and laid the children in it. They saved the shining earths 

 that they dug out, but when they came to put them back they would 

 not fit into their places. So they laid them on the top of the bear. 



"Then the medicine man said that the manitou of the bear was 

 offended, and that they should build a separate earth creature. 

 Again the chief pointed up the river. Then he bade the people 

 gather earth in haste, and over the bear they heaped a rough panther 

 pile. This done they took to their canoes, and fled down the river, 

 and again the place was silent. 



