128 TRADITIONS OF THE ARIKARA. 
came to see her, but she did not know who he was. One day five men 
came, and the fifth one she liked best. He was fine-looking, and young. 
This fifth man asked her to go home with him. She liked him so much 
that she did not feel like refusing him, so she went with him. 
When the husband returned he found that his wife was gone. He 
looked all around until at last he found their tracks. He ran along, 
following the tracks. The poor man was getting tired, but the more 
he thought of his wife the more he felt like following her, for he 
thought a great deal of her. He caught up with her, and to his great 
surprise he saw his wife walking beside an animal. The man ran and 
shot at the animal, but could not kill it. This animal was an Elk. Not 
far away was a lake, toward which the Elk and the woman were 
headed. The Elk and the woman went right into this lake. The man 
shot at the animal, but the arrows did not seem to harm the Elk. When 
the man came to the lake he remained there. He would think of going 
away, but when he thought of his wife he would stay. He cried and 
cried. He neither ate nor drank. 
At last the woman came out from the lake, for she felt sorry for 
her husband. She said: “You must go home, and whenever you start 
upon the war-path come to this place before you go and I will see you, 
and I will do anything to get out of this place so that I can tell you 
where to go, and if I can go with you I will do so.” So the man went 
home, and when he got there, the people asked him what had become 
of his wife. He told the people what had happened to her. After 
many days, the man thought he would go on the war-path. He in- 
vited several young men, and they went out. When they were near the 
lake, the man told his companions to stay at a distance from the lake, 
while he went on by himself. The man had a dress for the woman. 
When he got to the lake she told him to go west; that in a few days 
he would find three tipis; that there were three men living in the tipis, 
and that he should kill them; and that he would capture all their 
ponies. The woman then disappeared. The man threw the dress into 
the lake and went back. The man then led the war-party to the west. 
In a few days they found the three tipis. They attacked them and 
killed the people in them. Their ponies they captured, so that it all 
came true, as the woman had said. Then they went home and had a 
great time dancing the scalp dance. 
The next time the man went on the war-path he took several 
young men with him, and he again visited the lake. This time the 
woman came out, and said: “My husband, I can never leave this lake 
any more. You must go to the west, and there you will find the enemy. 
