120 TRUE STORIES OF THE HEAVENLY BEINGS. 
went off. After one day the girl went out of the lodge and went away 
out into the country, and stood upon a high hill and cried. A myste- 
rious looking man came to the girl and said: “‘My girl, why are you cry- 
ing?” She told him that a human Skull had captured her, that she was 
keeping its lodge in order, and that whenever it entered the lodge it 
rolled up to her and she had to take the scales from it and eat them, 
and that she wanted to get away from it and return to her own people. 
The man then said: ‘‘I can help you, but I can not do everything. After 
I have helped you all that I can, you must try and get help from some- 
one. else. Here is an arrow, a bladder, and a cactus. Take them and 
flee. The Skull will pursue you, but when it is about to overtake you 
first drop the cactus, then sing this song: 
My brother, the angry Skull is coming after me. 
Yonder it is coming over the hill-tops. 
My brother, the angry Skull is coming after me. 
My brother, the angry Skull is coming after me. 
The animals in the country will hear you singing and will come to help 
you, and if they can not help you, keep going on. When the Skull is 
about to overtake you again, drop the bladder, but first you must put a 
little water in it. If the Skull still follows you, call, sing the song again, 
and the animals will come to your assistance. If they can not help 
you, and the Skull is about to catch you, then stick this arrow into the 
ground.” 
The girl took the arrow, the cactus, and the bladder. She then went 
down to the creek and put some water into the bladder. She began to 
run towards the northern country. In the meantime the Skull had gone 
back to its lodge and found that the girl was gone. Then it ran to the 
open country, saw her running and began to pursue her. After a while 
the girl saw the Skull coming over the hills. Then she began to sing. 
A Mountain-Lion appeared and took pity upon her. The Mountain- 
Lion asked the girl who it was that was coming after her, and when she 
said that it was a human Skull, he said: ‘“‘I can not do anything for you, 
my girl. This Skull is a wonderful Skull. Goon. Some other animals 
are beyond here and they may perhaps help you.”’ The girl ran on and 
soon the head came in sight again. When it was nearly up to her the 
girl dropped the cactus. As soon as she dropped the cactus the cactus 
spread out until there were many all over the ground, and the human 
Skull could not go over the cactus. Then the girl went on. After a 
while she turned around and saw that the human Skull had in some way 
rolled over the cactus and was rapidly gaining on her. 
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