e
gourd of water from the lips of his thirsty mother. If he saw a man
weaker than himself he took from him whatever he coveted, and made no
restitution of the things he found. If he cast his eyes upon a maiden,
and she listened to his false tongue, erelong her tears were sure to
flow faster than those of a roebuck[B] that is hard pressed by a
hunter. The brothers and sisters that were in the cabin of his father,
if they crossed him, were beaten like a dog caught in a theft; if he
gave a pledge to follow a chief(1) he was sure to forget it; if he
made a vow to aid a friend in danger, he was sure to desert him, not
from fear, but because it was a pleasure to him to do wrong and
inflict injury. And thus lived Cayenguirago, the Great Arrow of the
Maquas.

[Footnote A: _Werowance_, a war-chief.]

[Footnote B: I do not know whether the roebuck actually weeps when he
is hard pushed--the Indians believe he does.]

Once upon a time, as this brave but bad chief was hunting alone in the
wilderness, in a spot which the Great Spirit had forgotten to
level(2), he came to a great cave in the side of a hill. It was in the
time of winter, and the hour of a fearful fall of rain and hail. To
escape the wrath of the spirits of the air, he entered this deep cave
in the side of the hill, carrying with him much wood, and the spoils
he had won in the chase. As he entered it he heard many strange and
fearful noises, but Cayenguirago was a warrior, though a wicked one,
and, little troubled at any time by frightful sounds, he pursued his
way into the interior of the cave. It was dark as a cloudy night in
the time that follows the death of the moon, but he remarked that the
cave was lit up and the darkness partially dispelled by what appeared
to be little stars, exceedingly bright substances which resembled the
eyes of a wolf, though smaller and far brighter, and which were
continually shifting about the cave with a slow and uncertain motion.
Then, for sound there was an incessant rattling, and hissing, and
slapping, which almost stunned him with noise. As he moved on he found
himself impeded by something into which his feet were continually
settling, and which he judged to be loose sand. When he had gone far
enough from the entrance to be free from the current of air which
entered the cavern by it, he laid down the deer's flesh which he had
brought upon his back, took out his flint and tinder-box, and struck
fire. Having properly disposed of