guardian spirit dwells. In him I
place great confidence. Do not, do not be afraid, or your limbs will be
fear-bound. We shall soon reach his lodge. Run, run," he cried.

They were now in sight of the lodge of Iamo, the magician of the
undying head--of that great magician whose life had been the forfeit of
the kind of necromantic leprosy caused by the careless steps of the
fatal curse of uncleanliness in his sister. This lodge was the sacred
spot of expected relief to which they had been fleeing, from the
furious rage of the giant Bear, who had been robbed of her precious
boon, the _magis-sauniqua_. For it had been the design of many previous
war parties to obtain this boon.

In the mean time, the undying head of Iamo had remained in the medicine
sack, suspended on the sides of his wigwam, where his sister had placed
it, with its mystic charms, and feathers, and arrows. This head
retained all life and vitality, keeping its eyes open, and directing
its sister, in order to procure food, where to place the magic arrows,
and speaking at long intervals. One day the sister saw the eyes of the
head brighten, as if through pleasure. At last it spoke. "Oh! sister,"
it said, "in what a pitiful situation you have been the cause of
placing me. Soon, very soon, a party of young men will arrive and apply
to me for aid; but, alas! how can I give what I _would_ have done with
so much pleasure. Nevertheless, take two arrows, and place them where
you have been in the habit of placing the others, and have meat
prepared and cooked before they arrive. When you hear them coming and
calling on my name, go out and say, 'Alas! it is long ago that an
accident befell him; I was the cause of it.' If they still come near,
ask them in and set meat before them. And now you must follow my
directions strictly. When the bear is near, go out and meet him. You
will take my medicine sack, bows and arrows, and my head. You must then
untie the sack, and spread out before you my paints of all colors, my
war eagle feathers, my tufts of dried hair, and whatever else it
contains. As the bear approaches, you will take all these articles, one
by one, and say to him, 'This is my deceased brother's paint,' and so
on with all the other articles, throwing each of them as far from you
as you can. The virtues contained in them will cause him to totter;
and, to complete his destruction, you will take my head, and that too
you will cast as far off as you can, crying alou