“Perfectly handsome,” said the young man.
“Ah, ha!” chuckled the old Tarantula, and he turned himself around and plunged headforemost into his hole.
“Out upon him!” cried the young man, as he stood there with his head bowed, and thinking. “Out upon the old rascal! That is the trick he serves me, is it? Fearful!” said he. “What shall I do now? I can’t go home naked, or half naked. Well, but I suppose I will have to,” said he to himself. And, bending down, he reached for the hairy gray-blue breech-cloth that had been left there by the old Tarantula, and the skirt, and put them on, and took his way swiftly homeward.
When he reached home the sun was high, which never had happened before, so that the old people had been thinking, “Surely, something must have happened to our young man that he comes not as early as usual.” And when he came, they said: “What has happened that has detained you so?”
“Ha!” replied the youth; “the old Tarantula that lives under the Ak’yapaatch-ella has stripped me of my garments, and with them has run away into his hole.”
“We thought something of the kind must have happened,” said his old father.
“Send for your warrior priest,” said the other old ones. “Let us see what he thinks about this, and what shall be done.”
So the priest-chief sent for his warrior priest, and when the latter had come, he asked: “Why is it that you have sent for me?”
“True, we have sent for you,” said the father, “because Old Tarantula has stripped my son of his handsome apparel, which is sacred and precious, and we therefore hold it a great loss to him and us. How do you think we can recover what has been stolen?”
The warrior priest thought a moment, and said: “I should think we would have to dig him out, for it isn’t likely he will show himself far from his den again.”