THE ORIGIN OF THE LOON MEDICINE CEREMONY. 257 
kill the boy if he should ever return, for a poor boy had no right to marry 
the daughter of a chief. 
The poor boy and the girl traveled far to the south and never thought 
of returning to their home. Some mysterious change seemed to have 
come over them, and they forgot all about their home, and were happy 
alone with each other. At last they came to the Platte River. Instead 
of crossing the Platte River they went down the stream to the east. For 
many days they traveled until they came to a swampy country. Then 
the boy knew that they had come to the place that was known as Pahuk. 
He went into the thick timbers and he saw many lakes and ponds. Then 
he returned to get his wife, for he had decided to make their home in the 
forest near one of the lakes. He cut timber and made a grass-lodge for 
himself and his wife. When the lodge was completed the young man 
went off into the timber and found many birds and animals. 
_ Every day he went hunting and brought back some game, so that they 
always had plenty to eat. One day while the young man was gone his 
wife went down to the pond to get some water. Just before she came 
to the pond a Loon flew up from the bank and lighted not very far away. 
She knew that there must be a nest close by. She went to the edge of 
the water and looked for the nest, but she could not find it. She gave 
no thought to the Loon for many days. One morning before daylight 
she got up and went down to the pond for some water. When she arrived 
at the edge of the pond she heard the noise of young birds. She hunted 
and she found them. There were two little Loons. She tried to catch 
them, but they swam into the water. After that, every morning she 
arose early and went down to the pond to try to catch the little Loons. 
One morning she slept longer than usual and after a while she heard 
sounds like the voices of children. She touched her husband, woke him 
up, and said, ‘‘Do you hear people talking outside?’’ He listened and 
then said, ‘‘Yes.’’ The voice said, ‘‘I wonder why our mother does not 
come for water.’’ The woman remembered the Loons. She arose and 
went out and saw the little Loons walking down toward the pond. She 
went down to the pond and there she saw the Loons playing in the 
water. They swam to her and she picked them up and carried them to 
her lodge. There the little Loons played about. After that the Loons 
would come every night and the woman would lie with one and the man 
would lie with the other. Early in the morning the Loons would wake up 
and make a noise, so that the man and the woman would wake up; then 
they would say, ‘‘It is morning; it is time for us to get up, for we must go 
down and take a swim in the water.” Then the woman would get out 
from her bed and go down to the pond with them. The Loons would 
