“See, brothers,” said he, “thus will I treat those we are going to fight.”
“Be quiet,” said the leader. “He to whom I am leading you is not to be compared to that rock.”
Mudjikewis fell back quite thoughtful, saying to himself—
“I wonder who this can be that he is going to attack;” and he was afraid.
They continued to see the remains of former warriors who had been to the place to which they were now going, and had retreated thus far back again. At last they came to a piece of rising ground, from which they plainly saw on a distant mountain an enormous bear. The distance between them was very great, but the size of the animal caused it to be seen very clearly.
“There,” said the leader; “it is to him I am leading you. Here our troubles will only commence, for he is a mishemokwa” (a she-bear, or a male-bear as ferocious as a she-bear) “and a manito. It is he who has what we prize so dearly, to obtain which the warriors whose bones we saw sacrificed their lives. You must not be fearful. Be manly; we shall find him asleep.”
The warriors advanced boldly till they came near to the bear, when they stopped to look at it more closely. It was asleep, and there was a belt around its neck.
“This,” said the leader, touching the belt, “is what we must get. It contains what we want.”
The eldest brother then tried to slip the belt over the bear’s head, the animal appearing to be fast asleep, and not at all disturbed by his efforts. He could not, however, remove the belt, nor was any of the brothers more successful till the one next to the youngest tried in his turn. He slipped the belt nearly over the beast’s head, but could not get it quite off. Then the youngest laid his hands on it, and with a pull succeeded. Placing the belt on the eldest brother’s back, he said—
“Now we must run,” and they started off at their best pace. When one became tired with the weight of the belt another carried it. Thus they ran till they had passed the bones of all the warriors, and when they were some distance beyond, looking back, they saw the monster slowly rising. For some time it stood still, not missing the belt. Then they heard a tremendous howl, like distant thunder, slowly filling the sky. At last they heard the bear cry—