220 TALES OF READY-TO-GIVE. 
and saw the stranger. He entered the lodge and told his mother that 
there was a handsome young man standing outside. She said, “‘You 
must tell the young man to come into the lodge.” The young man 
entered the lodge, and the woman gave hima seat. He placed his quiver 
in the west of the lodge on some bundles, and sat down on the seat. The 
old woman then said: ‘‘My boy, I am sorry that you came here, as 
Spider-Woman lives in the village and she takes the lives of young men. 
She has a person known as Eyes-Wide-Open who goes around and 
makes it his business to peep into all the lodges to see if there are any 
strangers in the village. He will come and see you and he will invite you 
to Spider-Woman’s lodge. When she offers you mush to eat you must 
tell her that you have eaten plenty and that you are full and can not eat 
any more. The mush that she will offer you is nothing but human 
brains. If she offers you a bowl of black corn you must not eat it, for it 
is human eyes. If she offers you chopped squash you must not eat it, 
for it is human ears.’’ While the woman talked to the boy she dished 
out some ground beans and placed them before him. While he was eat- 
ing them, the entrance flap was lifted up and Eyes-Wide-Open looked 
in and said, ‘‘I came to invite the young man to eat with Spider-Woman.” 
The woman whispered quietly, “‘You long-faced man, you ugly man, 
you are going to take this boy and try to kill him.’’ The young man 
said: ‘‘Go; I am eating my supper. As soon as I am through I shall 
come over to the lodge of Spider-Woman.” 
The boy went to the lodge of Spider-Woman and she offered him 
mush to eat, but he refused, saying that he had just eaten and could not 
eat more. Then she said: ‘‘My grandchild, I should like you to come 
to-morrow and we will play a little. I want you to climb this tree with 
me.’’ The young man said that he would come in the morning. He — 
returned to the lodge of his friends and told the woman that he had agreed 
to climb the tree with Spider-Woman. He said that he wanted to get 
up early and to get something ready to eat in the morning, and he wanted 
all of them to go out of the lodge and leave him alone. The woman 
said, ‘‘“Very well.’’ In the morning the woman got up and cooked some 
more beans for the boy. The boy ate the beans and then told the people 
to go out, as he wanted to be alone. Then the boy took some white 
and black clay. He put the white clay all over his body and spotted it 
with black. He took from his quiver a bunch of red feathers and stuck 
them into his scalp-lock. Then he went out and told the woman that 
when Eyes-Wide-Open came, to tell him that he was ready to climb the 
tree. When the woman saw the young man she knew that he must be 
wonderful. She made up her mind that she would stake herself and her 
