238 TALES OF READY-TO-GIVE. 
and cried upon the high hills and through the timber. She asked every 
bird that she saw to tell her uncle that she was taken far away, and that 
she was about to play a game known as the twin-ball game and that 
she needed his help. The birds did not seem to listen to her. Then 
she went back to Mother-Rat’s home, and there remained for the night. 
Before daylight the errand boy came and invited the girl to Spider- 
Woman’s lodge. The girl went, and when she entered the lodge Spider- 
Woman gave her a seat near her, and told her that she had a game known 
as twin balls and that she wanted her to play with her. The girl 
accepted the challenge, but told Spider-Woman that she would have to 
wait four days, as she was looking for her uncle. When the girl went 
back to Mother-Rat’s home, she told her what Spider-Woman had said. 
Mother-Rat cried and said, ‘‘She will surely kill you.”” That made the 
girl sad, so she went out upon the hills and cried. 
In the meantime the uncle of the girl had come back to his lodge. 
He found the girl missing. He took a bundle down that was hanging 
in the lodge, opened it, and from there he took out twin balls. He placed 
the twin balls upon the ground, and put his feet upon them. Then 
he hit his ankles with the stick that he carried. As he hit his ankles with 
the stick he would make a motion as if throwing the twin balls into the 
air, and when he lifted the stick he flew through the air, and when he let 
the stick fall to the ground he would drop. In this way he went into the 
southern country looking for his niece, but he could not find her. Then 
he traveled in the same way in the western country, but could not find 
her. Then he traveled the same way in the northern country, but could 
not find her. 
When he went back to the place where they had their lodge, a little 
bird was sitting upon a limb and was singing. The man could hear the 
bird singing, and listened. The bird sang: ‘‘I know where your niece 
is. She is about to play the twin-ball game with Spider-Woman, who 
will kill her if she defeats her.’’ The man said to the bird, ‘‘Lead me to 
the place where my niece is.’’ The bird flew towards the east. The 
man stood upon the balls and began to strike his ankles with the stick. 
Then he lifted the stick up into the sky and the balls flew up with the 
man. The bird came to the timber. When the man arrived at the 
timber the bird began to sing, ‘‘Now you can hear the voice of your niece 
crying.”’ The man stopped and listened, and he heard her cry. This 
was in the evening. The man then ran to where she was crying and he 
found her. He told her that he had come to protect her; that she would 
kill Spider-Woman, for she should use her own twin balls. The man said 
to the girl: ‘‘On the day when you shall play with Spider-Woman, I 
