On the twenty-sixth night after Hubit’s death, some one came into the house. Norwanchakus looked up. It was Keriha.
After that the two brothers went to Puri Buli. At the foot of the mountain they saw some one half sitting, half lying, and looking at them. When they came nearer, it went into an opening.
“My brother,” said Keriha, “I want that.”
“Nothing can pass you,” said the elder brother. “You want everything. You would better let this go.”
Keriha paid no heed to Norwanchakus: he split the earth with his little finger and killed the stranger, a Supchit. He skinned the body and said, “I think that this skin will be warm; I will sleep on it.”
“My brother,” said Norwanchakus, “you are the only person who has ever killed a Supchit—you may be sorry.”
Next morning a terrible snow came. It snowed five days and nights; everything was buried under snow. Keriha and Norwanchakus lay twenty-one days under the snow without food. On the twenty-first night, the Supchit woman whom Keriha had killed came and stole him away.
Next morning Norwanchakus looked outside. Keriha was gone; the snow was gone. He looked for tracks, looked all day, found no tracks. He searched five days, ten, twenty days—searched all the mountains, went down the rivers, up the rivers, north, south, east, west. He searched one year, found neither track nor trail; searched ten years, then ten years more; inquired of every one in all the world—no one knew of Keriha.
At last he went back to the house where Keriha had been lost to see if there was track or trail there. Behind Keriha’s sleeping-place he saw a large stone. He raised it, found an opening and a passage sloping northward, saw tracks made when the Supchit woman took Keriha away. He went into the passage, followed the trail till he came to the top of Bohem Puyuk. He came out on the top, went in again and followed a trail going south; followed it, winding west and east, till he came out at Waikidi Pom. There he saw tracks on the ground, lost them, found them again, found them going under the ground, travelled under the ground, came out, lost and found tracks till he lost them for good.
He inquired in the west for five years without finding trail or tidings of Keriha. At last he said,—