64. Some Short Stories

64. SOME SHORT STORIES

There were two villages hostile to each other. A man belonging to one obtained a medicine inclosed in a bottle. If this were uncorked it would kill everyone in the neighborhood by means of a pestilence, or something of the kind. The man was taking it to the opposing village intending to open it there, but just before he got to that village he opened it by mistake and the smell of it killed him instead of his enemies.

There is a story to the effect that in ancient times the bear was the Indians' hog, the turkeys their chickens, and the kā'nta (Smilax root) their flour, but they did not watch them so they ran away and became wild.

Once a man had tied his horse with two halters. A Comanche came that night to steal the horse and untied one of the ropes but did not see the other. So when he mounted and started to ride away the other halter pulled the horse round in a circle suddenly and the Indian fell off.