PURSUIT BY A RATTLING SKULL; THE PLEIADES. I2I 
She began to sing the same song that she sang before. The Bear 
heard her singing, and came to help her. The girl told the Bear that a 
person was after her. ‘‘Who?” said the Bear. ‘‘A human Skull,”’ 
said the girl, The Bear shook his head and said: ‘‘My girl, I am not 
afraid of anybody or anything but this Skull. It is wonderful and I 
can do nothing. Goon. Other animals are beyond here and they may 
be able to help you. I can not help you.” When the Skull came in 
sight of the Bear, it began to call the Bear bad names. The girl ran on. 
The Skull continued to follow and just as it was about to catch up with 
the girl, the girl dropped the bladder with the water in it. When the 
bladder struck the ground and the ground gave way, there was a wide 
river with steep banks on both sides. The Skull saw many logs float- 
ing down the river and so it jumped upon a log and drifted down the 
river for a long way. The girl went on and met a Buffalo bull. The 
_ girl sang her song. The Buffalo listened, and took pity upon the girl 
and determined to help her, but when he was told that it was the 
human Skull that was after her, he told the girl to go on; that he could 
not help her. He said: ‘‘Go yonder. There are several brothers who live 
there. They may be able to help you.” The girl looked around and 
there came the human Skull again. Just as the Skull was about to over- 
take her she stopped and stuck the arrow into the ground, and many 
thick, thorny trees sprang up, so that the Skull could not go through. 
Then the Skull turned and called the Buffalo names for helping the girl. 
The Skull worked around through the timber, and at last it blew its 
breath and a fire went forth from its mouth and burned the trees so that 
a pathway was made. 
In the meantime the girl had found the lodge where the brothers lived, 
and she began to sing her song. Three little boys came out and listened 
to her. The youngest seemed to be about eleven years old, the other 
thirteen, and the oldest about fifteen years old. The boys had their 
quivers over their shoulders, and each boy carried a war club. They 
invited the girl into their lodge. The boys did not listen to the singing 
of the girl, for they had their eyes upon the human Skull. As the Skull 
came close to their lodge the eldest boy jumped out and with his war 
club struck the Skull so that the Skull broke into pieces. The girl was 
then told to come out and look at the human Skull. When she came out 
she picked up large stones and threw them upon the Skull and broke 
- the Skull into many smaller pieces. Then she made a big fire, picked up 
the pieces of the Skull and put them upon the fire and burned them. 
The boys told the girl that all their brothers were not at home, and 
that she could live with them until their older brothers came home. 
