The girls were very friendly and chatted pleasantly with the young men during the evening, until each party retired to sleep under a hurriedly made arbor of green boughs.
Very early in the morning the youths awoke; but lo! their companions had vanished, and they could see only the flash of a distant paddle where lake met sky at the far-off horizon line.
SHE TOOK UP HANDSFUL OF ASHES TO THROW INTO THEIR FACES.
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There was no boat, and they were about to go back in despair, when the young man who had last joined the party spied a little mussel shell at the edge of the water, and invited them to step in. At first they were doubtful and hung back; but in the end one ventured and stepped into the shell, which bore up his weight. Then another and another followed, until the ten men stood upon the shell, which had become a fine large canoe, and carried them all in safety to the opposite shore.
There they beheld the great white wigwam in which dwelt the ten virgins with their grandmother, who was a wicked old witch.
As soon as she saw the young men she took up handfuls of ashes to throw into their faces, and one after another fell senseless at her feet.