THE DANGEROUS WATER MONSTER. 47 
but most of them went down to the creek and there saw the water 
monster and knew that the man had told the truth. They all wondered 
why it had come and whether it was a good or evil omen. The old 
men tried to recall the past, to find out if the people had ever had a 
similar sign sent to them, but could not remember any. ‘There was 
one man in the camp who was old and blind, and he knew many won- 
derful things ; and so the people went for him, and when he came the 
chief asked him if he knew what the appearance of the water monster 
meant. ‘The old man sat there for a while without a word, and every 
one was very quiet. ‘‘ Well,’’ he said, finally, ‘‘the sign is a very bad 
one, for it signifies that the waters shall rise in a short time.’’ It was 
not long until the waters rose and formed a large lake. The lake was 
very dangerous. When one crossed it he had to cross without saying 
a word to any one. 
One time there were four men who went out hunting on the other 
side of the lake, and after they had killed much game they started back 
again. ‘They crossed the lake without making any noise and were within 
a short distance of the opposite shore when one man, who was very 
brave, thought he would see what the water would do to them if he 
spoke. He began to talk very loud, and in a little while the water rose 
up in a cloud over their heads and they were all drowned but the one 
man who had told that the water was very dangerous and warned the 
man not totalk. He went home empty-handed, for his bow and arrows 
had been washed away. He called some other men together and told 
them what had happened and asked them to go with him to search 
for the bodies of the men. ‘Two of the bodies were found, but the body 
of the man who made the noise could not be found. 
23. SLAYING THE MONSTERS BY FIRE.* 
In the olden time the world was full of all kinds of wild animals who 
ate people and tame animals. In those times Coyote called all the people 
together to a council to see what could be done with the wild animals, 
because they were getting so bad that the people could not go away 
from their homes to hunt food or to visit each other. At the council 
they decided to set fire to all the grass, which was as high as trees, and 
so burn the wild animals and everything on the earth. ‘They chose 
White-Headed-Hawk and Crow, because they were the swiftest of all 
the people, to fly to some bright Star and tell the Star that they were 
coming to his home to live. The Star told them that there was room 
for the people in the heavens if they could get up there. The messen- 
gers returned and reported to the people. They decided to make a long 
* Told by White-Bread. 
