32 TRUE STORIES OF THE HEAVENLY BEINGS. 
lodge the stone moved up and closed the opening. The girl looked around 
and she saw that there was no opening anywhere except at the top where 
the smoke escaped, and it was a very small hole. The young man went 
over to where there were some buffalo robes spread upon the ground and 
sat down. When the girl looked where the young man lay upon the 
buffalo robes, she saw there an ugly old man instead of the young man. 
The girl then began to cry. The old man said: “It will not do you any 
good tocry. You are here and I am going to kill you in a few days, but 
while you are living make yourself at home and try to be content, for 
you have but a short time to live.’’ The girl looked around the lodge 
and she saw a sacred bundle, with five big gourd rattles upon it, hanging 
upon the side of the wall. The old man gave her a buffalo robe and she 
placed it upon the ground and then lay down. 
The next morning he told her to cook some meat; that he was going 
out over the country that day. When the old man was ready to go out 
from the lodge he turned into a handsome young man again. He stood 
at the entrance and he spoke to the stone door and it moved. Then he 
stepped outside and was gone. The girl began to cry, and as she cried 
she heard some one speak to her, saying: ‘‘Woman, this being, whose 
name is Long-Tongue, is a round, rattling, rolling skull that kills people 
and other animals, but if you do as I tell you, you shall be saved. The 
odor which you smelt came from the roots in the sacred bundle which 
you see here. To-morrow when the being is in this lodge you ask him to 
let you go out for a few minutes. He will let the stone move. When 
you come out I will make the hackberry trees lower their limbs so that 
you can pick a handful of the berries. These you will place under your 
belt, and then you return to the lodge. I will come again and help you.”’ 
When she looked up at the hole she saw a Raven sitting at the top of the 
opening. The Raven flew away and in the night Long-Tongue came 
back. As he stepped into the lodge he turned into the old man again. 
The next day when the sun was high she asked him to let her go out 
for a few moments. The old man spoke, the stone moved, and the girl 
was outside. She quickly picked a handful of the hackberries, then she 
returned to the lodge and sat down. About noon Long-Tongue said: 
“Make yourself at home. I am going away into the country, but will 
be back in the afternoon.’’ At noon Long-Tongue went out of the lodge 
and disappeared. 
After a while the Raven came and sat at the opening of the lodge. 
He said: ‘‘Woman, when Long-Tongue comes back he is going to ask 
you to take lice off of his head, and you must do as he tells you. When you 
have placed his head upon your lap you will find that his head is covered 
