THE GIRL WHO MARRIED A STAR. 49 
The old woman then told the boy that he must go into the timber 
and cut a good-sized ash and some dogwood. The boy went and 
brought back the ash and the dogwood to the old woman. The old 
woman scraped on the ash wood, cutting it the right length for the 
bow and the right length for the arrow sticks. She then told the boy 
to go west of ther lodge and to throw the arrows into a pond that he 
would come to. The old woman told the boy that when he should throw 
these sticks into the water he should say, “Grandfather, I want the 
strongest bow that you can give me, and I want wonderful arrows with 
it.” So the boy took up 'the sticks and went west from the lodge. He 
came to the pond. He threw the sticks into the water, and said, 
“Grandfather, give me the strongest bow that you can give me, and 
wonderful arrows.” ‘Then the boy returned into the lodge. The next 
morning, the boy went down to the pond, and there he found a black 
bow and four black arrows. These he picked up, then he went home. 
The boy went to hunt every day, for now he had a good bow and 
good arrows. One day the boy saw the old woman place a bowl of 
mush behind the buffalo curtain. When she went out to her field, 
the boy wanted to see what made the old woman place the mush behind 
the curtain, for each time she pulled out the wooden bow! that had ‘held 
the mush, the mush was gone. The boy went to the curtain, lifted 
it up, and there he saw a serpent, with its big eyes looking at him. The 
boy then said: “Ah! I see now! You are the one that eats all my 
erandmother’s mush.’’ The boy took ‘his bow and arrows and shot the 
serpent in the head and killed it. The serpent made one great, big 
noise, fell back, then slipped down into the pond. After the serpent 
had slipped down into the pond the water spread out and formed a lake. 
When the old woman came home, the boy said, “Grandmother, I 
have killed the big monster that was lying behind the curtain, for he 
was eating all your mush.” The old woman said: “My grandson, you 
did right. I am glad you killed him. He has gone back anto the lake, 
where he will always remain.” The old woman really was not glad, 
but mad, in her heart, for she now saw that the boy had supernatural 
powers. She wanted the boy killed. She did not let this be known, 
for she decided that she would send him to the place where her wild 
animals were stationed. When the boy was gone ‘the old woman cried 
and mourned for her husband, who was the serpent. She said (with- 
out the boy hearing), “My grandson, you have killed your grand- 
father.” 
The next day, when the old woman was ready to go to her corn- 
field, she told the boy that he must not go to a certain place, for the 
