the hill creeps away
Hahola, the Rattlesnake. Our enemies are in hiding. Let us go down to
them."

Down the hill they came, but before they reached the bottom, from
behind every pine-tree and every stone there leaped a warrior, with
fiendish yells. Out rang the war-whoop of Aseelkwa, and from every
lodge there sprang forth the warriors who had fought for Milkanops, his
father. Then, in the darkness, there followed a terrible battle. Many
warriors fell on both sides, struck down with tomahawks. For some time
it seemed as if the enemy must win. Then, little by little, Aseelkwa's
army began to drive them back. At last they had them at the entrance
to the narrow valley, and there was fought the fiercest part of the
battle. But at last the enemy were forced out of the valley, and once
in the open, they turned and vanished in the darkness. During this
last fight Aseelkwa had been missing, and now his warriors began to
search for him among the wounded. At last they found him, and there at
his side lay Hahola, dead.

"Lift me up," said Aseelkwa, "and carry me to the high hill, and there
lay me under the pine-tree." They did as he commanded, and after they
laid him down he turned to them and spoke in a very weak voice.

"My warriors," he said, "in a few moments my spirit shall have gone to
join that of my fathers in the happy hunting grounds. I dreamed of
this battle, and everything has been just as I dreamed. Our enemies
are defeated, and Hahola, the traitor, is dead. Bury him where he fell
in the valley. By morning you will find that the Great Spirit has
placed a barrier between you and your enemies, over which they can
never cross. And remember, my brave warriors, that although I am not
with you, that always shall the spirit of Aseelkwa watch over his
tribe. You shall fight no more battles, but instead shall cultivate
and make fruitful these hills."

Then he sank back upon the grass, and his spirit passed to the happy
hunting grounds.

The warriors buried him where he lay, and then, as he had commanded
them, buried Hahola in the narrow valley. When the sun rose next
morning, they knew what Aseelkwa had meant, for where the valley had
been the night before, there now was a long, narrow lake, whose still,
blue waters told nothing of its great depth, for in the centre of this
lake, just where Hahola was buried, there is no bottom to be found.
Then the warriors looked up on the high hill, and again they