HEALTHY-FLINT-STONE-MAN. 125 
men passing the time talking of the past as usual. She kept on doing 
her duty day after day. 
The third time the old woman came for the wife to ask her to help 
her fetch wood, as she was all out of it again. Again they went out, 
and this time they went still further for the wood, and now they were 
getting a long way from the village. The wife cut wood and arranged 
it in two bundles, one for each of them to carry. This time it was the 
old woman’s turn first to be helped up with the wood. They helped 
each other, and on the way home the old woman told the wife that they 
had only once more to go for wood, and the work would all be done. 
She always seemed thankful for the help she received. They reached 
the village and went to their homes. The wife found her men as usual, 
and commenced to do her work. After the men were through eating 
they went home, though some stayed late in the night. 
Finally the old woman came the fourth time to ask the wife to go 
with ther and help her fetch some wood. This time they went about 
twice as far as they had gone the third time from the village. When 
the old woman thought they were far enough they stopped, and the 
wife began cutting wood for both of them. When she had cut enough 
she arranged it in two bundles. Now it was the wife’s turn to be helped 
up with the wood, but the old woman refused to do it as usual and told 
her to go ahead and kneel by the bundle of wood. The wife refused. 
Now, each tried to persuade the other to kneel first against the bundle 
of wood. The old woman finally prevailed, and the wife knelt against 
the wood, and as she put her robe around her neck the old woman 
seemed pleased to help her, but as the old woman was fixing the carrying 
ropes she tightened them, after slipping them around the wife’s neck 
until the wife fell at full length, as though dying. The old woman sat 
down to rest, as she was tired from choking the wife. Soon she got up 
and untied the wife. Now, they were in the thick timber, and there was 
flowing water through it. After the old woman had killed the wife she 
blew into the top of her head and blew the skin from her, hair and all. 
This she did because she envied the wife her good looks, since the 
wife was the best looking woman in the village, and her husband was 
good-looking and well thought of by all the prominent men, and the 
old woman wanted to be treated as well as the wife had been treated. 
Then the old woman began to put on the wife’s skin, but the wife was 
a little smaller than the old woman, though the old woman managed 
to stretch the skin and drew it over her, fitting herself to it. Then she 
smoothed down the skin until it fitted her nicely. She took the wife’s 
body to the flowing water and threw it in, having found a place that 
was never visited by anyone, and that had no trail leading to it. She 
