THE LIGHTNING’S MEDICINE CEREMONY. 265 
and began to cry; he stayed there until night, when he fell asleep. He 
dreamed that he saw the same man, and that this man told him not to 
mourn or fast; that some time in the future he would be told where to go 
and where to stay; that then the animals’ lodge would be opened to him. 
The man did not stay upon the hill any more, but went home. He lay 
down by the altar and did not dream anything. 
For several days he lay by the altar without dreaming. One rainy 
night the man lay down by the altar where the stone was, and while 
it rained and stormed he slept and dreamed that he saw a man who 
represented the stone, who told him that the time had come when he 
should go to a distant place where the animals’ lodge was. The man 
awoke; the rainstorm had passed. The man went out and stood upon 
the lodge and cried. 
He stayed upon the lodge until there was another rainstorm; again 
- he dreamed, and this time he dreamed that he saw the strange man again, 
who said: ‘‘To-morrow you must leave the village. Go to the place 
that is known as Swimming-Mound upon the Republican River. Your 
people you shall take with you, and also the stone. When you have 
reachedthe mound, place the stone upon it; take your place upon the south 
side of the stone, facing north. Once in a while walk around the stone 
in a circle, so that the grass will be trampled down. You willstay upon 
the mound until a rainstorm shall come. When it thunders, watch upon 
the banks of the Republican River; wherever the lightning strikes upon 
the banks, there go. Carry the stone with you. There you will find a 
clump of trees upon the bank. There you will see that the lightning has 
struck many times. The dirt shall have been moved away, and there 
you will find a hole; crawl into this hole and place the stone at the 
entrance. Go through the entrance and you will find that it will become 
larger. As you go through the entrance you will notice that the pas- 
sage will lead you under the Swimming-Mound. As you approach the 
animals’ lodge you will hear all kinds of mysterious noises. You will 
hear the noise of rubbing on the sacred stick of the animals. When you 
hear this, sit down and you will see an animal coming from the animals’ 
lodge. The animal will pass you and will go to the entrance. As the 
animal comes to the entrance and sees the stone, it will stop. It will 
then return, pass you, then enter the animals’ lodge. The animals will 
then find a way to remove the stone from their lodge entrance. While 
they are meditating over this, appear. The animals will see you and will 
make a request of you to remove the stone. Tell the animals to give you 
their power; that you will then remove the stone. As you stand upon 
the hill, do not care for the mysterious voices that you will hear.” 
