154 TALES OF READY-TO-GIVE. 
The strange boy again said: ‘‘Handsome-Boy, this is why I was not 
afraid of the thunder and the lightning which I captured in the hollow 
log on the side of that high mound.’ After they had been there for some 
time a woman came to the lodge with a black robe upon her shoulders 
and a black skirt. She gave the boys some ground beans and then she 
went away. The boys ate of the beans and then they left the place. 
The boys went through the timber hunting for their father. Every 
animal they met the boy asked if it had seen their father. The ani- 
mal would say ‘‘No.”’ The boy would look at it and would tell the 
animal that if it was lying to him he would killit. The animal would say: 
‘“‘T have not seen your father. He did not go this way.”’ The insects 
which the boys met were also asked if they had seen their father. The 
insects would say ‘‘No.’’ When they met the bugs the boy would ask 
them if they had seen their father and the bugs would say ‘‘No.” 
They went all over the country, but they could not find their father. 
They finally went back into the lodge. A little Mouse came out from 
the side of the lodge. The boy asked the Mouse if it had seen their 
father and where he was. The Mouse said: ‘‘Yes; I know.” The Mouse 
went from the fireplace to the wood mortar standing near the entrance. 
The boy went to the mortar. He picked it up from the ground and said: 
‘‘Did you help my father to get away from us?”’ The mortar said: “‘ Yes; 
I did.”” The boy threw the mortar away and said: “I shall not place 
you upon the fire so that you will burn up. The people will have use 
for you in the future.’’ The two boys went to the hole where the mor- 
tar stood. They went into it and there they found their father’s trail. 
They came to the under-ground world. They could see plainly. They 
traveled on. After a while they cametoa big village of people. They 
went through the village asking people if they had seen their father. 
The people said: ‘‘ Yes; he passed through here.’”’ They traveled on and 
on until they came to another village of people. They went through 
the village asking for their father. Everyone they asked said that the 
father had passed on through the village. . 
The two boys traveled on and after a while they came to another 
village. The strange boy said: ‘‘These people are very bad. We 
must kill them in the under-world. If our father is in this village they © 
will not tell us. Now, Handsome-Boy, I want you to twist your head 
around.’’ The two boys twisted their heads around and their heads 
rattled as if they were two gourds. Then the strange boy said: ‘‘ Hand- 
some-Boy, when we enter the village you must go through one way and 
I will go another. You must speak on the way and tell the people that 
if they look at you they will die; that if they do not look at you they will 
die anyway. If the people look at you they will die and if they do not 
