amer," spoke his elder brother. "I will wager he has
something marvellous to relate."

Bilh Ahati{~COMBINING BREVE~}ni was greeted first by his brother-in-law. "You must have
slept near here last night, for you are too far out to have made this
distance since daylight."

"I did," he replied, "near a canon that is surely holy. A lot of people
had gathered to dance, the gods sang, and--"

"There, I told you he would have some lie to tell," interrupted the eldest
brother, and started on.

"Go ahead," urged the brother-in-law; "tell us the rest."

"It's no use; no one cares to listen to me," said Bilh Ahati{~COMBINING BREVE~}ni.

His younger brother, also incredulous, took up his burden and plodded off,
whereat Bilh Ahati{~COMBINING BREVE~}ni related all that he had seen and heard.

"You men must have killed those people they spoke about," he accused.

"No, it was none of us," his brother-in-law protested; "we have killed no
people. Yesterday morning one shot a crow, and last night we killed a
magpie, but there was no harm in that."

"I fear there was; they were hunters like yourselves, in search of meat
for the Holy People, for the time disguised as birds," Bilh Ahati{~COMBINING BREVE~}ni
ventured. Then, dividing the pack, the two hurried on to overtake the
others.

"Well," asked the youngest, "did you hear a fine story?"

"It is not a lie," his brother-in-law retorted; "we killed a crow and a
magpie yesterday, and the Holy People talked about it in the canon last
night. Look! There come four mountain sheep! Hurry, Bilh Ahati{~COMBINING BREVE~}ni and head
them off!" They had come upon the canon where the strange voices had been
heard. Four sheep, among large bowlders near the rim, were carefully
threading their way out of it. The three dropped back, while Bilh Ahati{~COMBINING BREVE~}ni
ran ahead and concealed himself near the ascending trail. As the sheep
approached he drew his bow and aimed for the leader's heart, but his
fingers could not loose their grip upon the arrow, and the sheep passed by
unharmed. Bilh Ahati{~COMBINING BREVE~}ni scrambled up over the rim of the canon and ran to
get ahead of them again, but the bowstring would not leave his fingers as
they passed. A third effort, and a fourth, to kill the game brought the
same result. Bilh Ahati{~COMBINING BREVE~}ni cursed himself and the sheep, but ceased
suddenly, for whom should he see but four gods, Yebichai, appear before
him, who had transformed th