u
are nearly starved." The two fell to at once and after they had somewhat
appeased their appetites, one of them arose and went over to see how
her baby was resting. Noting an unnatural color on her baby's face,
she raised him up only to have his head roll off from the bundle of
blankets. "'My son! my son!" she cried out. At once the other hastened
to her baby and grabbed it up, only to have the same thing happen. At
once they surmised who had done this, and caught up sticks from the fire
with which to beat Unktomi to death. He, expecting something like this
to happen, lost very little time in getting outside and down into a hole
at the roots of a large tree. The two widows not being able to follow
Unktomi down into the hole, had to give up trying to get him out, and
passed the rest of the day and night crying for their beloved babies.
In the meantime Unktomi had gotten out by another opening, and fixing
himself up in an entirely different style, and painting his face in a
manner that they would not recognize him, he cautiously approached the
weeping women and inquired the cause of their tears.

Thus they answered him: "Unktomi came here and fooled us about some
plums, and while we were absent killed our babies and made soup out of
their bodies. Then he gave us the soup to eat, which we did, and when
we found out what he had done we tried to kill him, but he crawled down
into that hole and we could not get him out."

"I will get him out," said the mock stranger, and with that he crawled
down into the hole and scratched his own face all over to make the
widows believe he had been fighting with Unktomi. "I have killed him,
and that you may see him I have enlarged the hole so you can crawl in
and see for yourselves, also to take some revenge on his dead body."
The two foolish widows, believing him, crawled into the hole, only to
be blocked up by Unktomi, who at once gathered great piles of wood and
stuffing it into the hole, set it on fire, and thus ended the last of
the family who were foolish enough to let Unktomi tempt them with a few
red plums.

Note: I have made the following changes to the text:
PAGE PARA. LINE ORIGINALLY CHANGED TO
12 3 3 one? one?"
23 2 1 men man
26 11 4 me, me,"
42 7 5 earth. earth."
117 1 12 scorceress. sorceress.
130 2