82 THE MYTHOLOGY OF THE WICHITA. 
food of their own, the man and his sisters having meat for themselves, 
the old woman meat for herself, which she shared with the young 
stranger. That morning they supposed that the young man was going 
out hunting, and his four sisters went out to swim, for they were fond 
of swimming, so the strange woman was left at home with the old 
woman. The old woman began to tell the young woman how mean her 
children were; that their food was human flesh; that her son went out 
hunting, not for any kind of game, but for human beings; that he had 
great powers to attack human beings; that when he killed anybody he 
would butcher him and bring home his flesh for himself and his sis- 
ters. She told the young woman a great deal about the young man 
and his four sisters. All that day the young man was out hunting and 
his four sisters were out swimming. The old woman told the young 
woman that this way her children passed their time. At sundown 
the four sisters came home, and after a while the young man came, and 
they were all hungry. The man made his sisters prepare their supper 
at once. The young man was feeling bad because he had not killed 
any game, and said he was going to try again the next day. The next 
morning, after all had eaten breakfast, the young man started on his 
hunting trip again. His sisters went out to the lake for their bath, 
and the old woman remained at home with the young woman until 
the brother and sisters came home. This happened every day. One 
day the old woman said to the young woman, “Let us get the young 
man to eat some food.” ‘They pounded some corn into meal and put 
it away until the young man returned. After the meal, all went to 
sleep, and the two women who had remained at home rose from their 
bed, and while the young man was asleep, put the corn meal into his 
mouth and made him eat it. The young man rose from the bed and said 
to them, “Now, since you have done this to me you have taken away 
from me my powers, and now I shall have to live like any other human 
being, and will always have less powers, for I had great powers before 
you did this to me.” After he had eaten the meal he hunted all kinds 
of game, such as deer, turkey, and buffalo, for his meat from this time 
on. After that time the four women went out to the lake and ceased 
to return. The young man now called together all his neighbors, who 
were the wild animals and fowls of the air. They came to his place 
and asked why he had called them. He told them that his sisters had 
gone to the lake and had not returned home since the two women had 
done him the wrong, and he wanted his sisters to come home. He 
told them that his sisters had laid their clothes on the dry ground; 
that he wanted some one to go and get them; that whoever should get 
