had ceased speaking, jumped up. ‘Yes,’ said he, ‘I will go,
and this will be the way I will treat those I am going to fight;’
and he struck the post in the center of the lodge, and gave a yell.
The others spoke to him, saying: ‘Slow, slow, Mudjikewis, when you
are in other people’s lodges.’ So he sat down. Then, in turn,
they took the drum, and sang their songs, and closed with a feast.
The youngest told them not to whisper their intention
to their wives, but secretly to prepare for their journey.
They all promised obedience, and Mudjikewis was the first
to say so.
The time for their departure drew near. Word was given to
assemble on a certain night, when they would depart immediately.
Mudjikewis was loud in his demands for his moccasins.
Several times his wife asked him the reason. ‘Besides,’ said she,
‘you have a good pair on.’ ‘Quick, quick,’ said he, ‘since you
must know, we are going on a war excursion; so be quick.’
He thus revealed the secret. That night they met and started.
The snow was on the ground, and they traveled all night, lest others
should follow them. When it was daylight, the leader took snow
and made a ball of it, then tossing it into the air, he said:
‘It was in this way I saw snow fall in a dream, so that I could not
be tracked.’ And he told them to keep close to each other for fear
of losing themselves, as the snow began to fall in very large flakes.
Near as they walked, it was with difficulty they could see each other.
The snow continued falling all that day and the following night,
so it was impossible to track them.
They had now walked for several days, and Mudjikewis was
always in the rear. One day, running suddenly forward,
he gave the SAW-SAW-QUAN,
a tree with his war-club, and it broke into pieces as if struck
with lightning. ‘Brothers,’ said he, ‘this will be the way I
will serve those we are going to fight.’ The leader answered,
‘Slow, slow, Mudjikewis, the one I lead you to is not to be thought
of so lightly.’ Again he fell back and thought to himself:
‘What! what! who can this be he is leading us to?’
He felt fearful and was silent. Day after day they traveled on,
till they came to an extensive plain, on the borders of which
human bones were bleaching in the sun. The leader spoke:
‘They are the bones of those who have gone before us.
None has ever yet returned to tell the sad tale of their fate.’
Again Mudjikewis became restless, and, running forward,
gave the accustomed yell. Advancing to a large rock which
stood above the ground, he struck it, and it fell to pieces.
‘See, brothers,’ said he, ‘thus will I treat those whom we are
going to fight.’ ‘Still, still,’ once more said the leader;
‘he to whom I am leading you is not to be compared
to the rock.’
Mudjikewis fell back thoughtful, saying to himself: ‘I wonder
who this can be that he is going to attack;’ and he was afraid.
Still they continued to see the remains of former warriors,
who had been to the place where they were now going,
some of whom had retreated as far back as the place where they
first saw the bones, beyond which no one had ever escaped.
At last they came to a piece of rising ground, from which they
plainly distinguished, sleeping on a distant mountain,
a mammoth bear.
The distance between them was very great, but the size of the animal
caused him to be plainly seen. ‘There,’ said the leader,
‘it is he to whom I am leading you; here our troubles will commence,
for he is a mishemokwa and a manito. It is he who has that we
prize so dearly (i.e. wampum), to obtain which, the warriors whose
bones we saw, sacrificed their lives. You must not be fearful:
be manly. We shall find him asleep.’ Then the leader went
forward and touched the belt around the animal’s neck.