After a time she came to a broad, level, grassy country and Ma´asewe called: “Woman! do not go far in this country where there are no trees, for the sun is hot and when there is no shade I get very sick in my head. See, woman,” he continued, “there in the mountains are trees and the best road is there.” The sko´yo called out, “All right,” and started toward the mountains. She came to a point where she must stoop to pass under drooping limbs upon which rested branches, which had fallen from other trees. Ma´asewe whispered to Ûyuuyewĕ, “When she stoops to pass under we will catch hold of the tree and hang there until she is gone.” The boys caught on to the fallen timber which rested across the branches of the tree, and the sko´yo traveled on unconscious of their escape. When she had gone some distance she wondered that she heard not a sound and she called, “Children!” and no answer; and again she called, “Children,” and receiving no answer she cried, “Do not go to sleep,” and she continued to call, “Do not go to sleep.” Hearing not a word from the boys she shook the pack in order to awaken them, as she thought they were sleeping soundly. This bringing no reply she placed the pack upon the ground and to her surprise the boys were not there. “The bad boys! the bad boys!” she cried, as she retraced her steps to look for them. “Where can they be? where can they be?”
When she discovered them hanging from a tree she called, “You bad boys! why are you there?” Ma´asewe said, “No! woman; we are not bad. We only wished to stop here and see this timber; it is very beautiful.” She compelled them to get into the pack and again started off, saying to the children, “You must not go to sleep.” The journey was long ere the house of the sko´yo was reached. She said, “I am glad to be home again,” and she placed the pack on the floor, telling the boys to get out. “My children, I am very tired and hungry. Run out and get me some wood for fire.” Ma´asewe whispered to his younger brother, “Let us go for the wood.”
In a little while the boys returned with loads of wood on their backs. Pointing to a small conical house near by, she said, “Children, carry the wood there,” and the sko´yo built a fire in the house and called the boys to look at it saying, “Children, come here and see the fire; it is good and warm.” Ma´asewe whispered to his younger brother, “What does the woman want?” Upon their approach the sko´yo said, “See! I have made a great fire and it is good and warm; look in;” and as the children passed in front of her she pushed them into the house and closed the door. She wished to cook the boys for her supper, and she smacked her lips with satisfaction in anticipation of the feast in store for her. But she was to be disappointed, as the boys threw shells from their mouths which instantly protected them from the heat.
After closing the door on the boys the woman went into her house and bathed all over in a very large bowl of yucca suds, washing her head first, and taking a seat she said to herself, “All is well. I am most contented and happy.” The boys were also contented. The woman, thinking it was about time her supper was cooked, removed the stone which she had placed in the doorway and secured with plaster. The boys had secreted themselves in one side of the house, where they kept quiet. What she supposed to be their flesh was i´isa (excrement) which the boys had deposited there. The woman removed this with great care and began eating it. (This woman had no husband and lived alone.) She said to herself, “This is delicious food and cooked so well,” and again and again she remarked to herself the delicious flavor of the flesh of the boys. Finally Ma´asewe cried, “You are not eating our flesh but our i´isa,” and she looked around but could see no one. Then U´yuuyewĕ called, “You are eating our i´isa,” and again she listened and looked about, but could see no one. The boys continued to call to her, but it was sometime before she discovered them sitting in the far end of the room. “What bad boys you are,” she cried, “I thought I was eating your flesh.” The woman hastened out of the house and tickling her throat with her finger vomited up the offal.
She again sent the boys for wood, telling them to bring much, and they returned with large loads on their backs, and she sent them a second time and they returned with another quantity. Then she again built a fire in the small house and left it, and the two boys exclaimed, “What a great fire!” and Ma´asewe called to the woman, “Come here and see this fire; see what a hothouse; I guess this time my brother and I will die;” and the woman stooped to look at the fire, and Ma´asewe said to her, “Look away in there. See, we will surely die this time. Look! there is the hottest point!” he standing behind the woman and pointing over her shoulder, the woman bending her head still lower to see the better, said, “Yes; the fire is best off there.” “Yes,” said Ma´asewe, “it is very hot there;” and the Sko´yo was filled with interest, and looked intently into the house. The boys, finally, inducing her to stoop very low so that her face was near the doorway, pushed her into the hot bed of coals, and she was burned to death.
The boys rejoiced, and Ma´asewe said, “Now that the woman is dead, let us go to her house.” They found the house very large, with many rooms and doors. In the middle of the floor there was a small circular door which Ma´asewe raised, and looking in, discovered that below it was very dark. Pointing downward, he said, “Though I can not see, I guess this is the most beautiful room. I think I will go below; perhaps we will find many good things.” As soon as he entered the door he disappeared from sight and vanished from hearing. U´yuuyewĕ, receiving no reply to his calls, said to himself, “Ma´asewe has found many beautiful things below, and he will not answer me; I will go and see for myself.” After entering the door, he knew nothing until he found himself by the side of his elder brother, and, passing through the doorway, the boys tumbled over and over into a lower world.
When Ma´asewe reached this new world he was unconscious from the fall, but after a time he revived sufficiently to sit up, when he beheld U´yuuyewĕ tumbling down, and he fell by the side of Ma´asewe, who was almost dead, and Ma´asewe said, “Younger brother, why did you follow me?” After a while U´yuuyewĕ was able to sit up and Ma´asewe remarked: “Younger brother, I think we are in another world. I do not know where we are, and I do not know what hour it is. I guess it is about the middle of the day. What do you think?” U´yuuyewĕ replied, “You know best, elder brother; whatever you think is right,” and Ma´asewe said, “All right. Let us go now over the road to the house where the sun enters in the evening, for I think this is the world where our father, the sun, returns at night.”
A little after the middle of the day Ma´asewe was walking ahead of U´yuuyewĕ, who was following close behind, and he said to his younger brother as he listened to some noise, “I believe we are coming to a village.” When they drew a little nearer they heard a drum, and supposed a feast was going on in the plaza, and in a little while they came in sight of the village and saw that there was a great feast there. All the people were gathered in the plaza. The chi´ta was a little way from the village and there was no one in it, as the boys discovered when they approached it, and they ascended the ladder. Ma´asewe said, “This is the chi´ta. Let us enter.” The mode of entering shows this chi´ta to have been built above ground. Upon invading the chi´ta they found it very large and very pretty, and there were many fine bows and arrows hanging on the walls. They took the bows and examining them said to one another, “What fine bows and arrows! They are all fine. Look,” and they were eager to possess them. Ma´asewe proposed that they should each take a bow and arrows and hurry away, saying: “All the people are in the plaza looking at the dance, and no one will see us;” and they hastened from the chi´ta with their treasures. Ma´asewe said, “Younger brother, let us return over the road whence we came.”
But a short time elapsed when a man had occasion to visit the chi´ta, and he at once discovered footprints, and entering, found that bows and arrows had been stolen; hurrying to the plaza he informed the people of the theft, saying, “Two men have entered the chi´ta. I saw their footprints,” and the people cried out, “Let us follow them,” and ran over the road which the boys had taken. The boys had nearly reached the point where they had lighted when they entered this lower world when the people were close upon them.
The little fellows had to run hard, but they held fast to their bows and arrows, and just as they stepped upon the spot where they had fallen when they descended, their pursuers being close upon them, a whirlwind carried them up and through the door and back into the house of the sko´yo. Ma´asewe said, “Younger brother, let us hurry to our mother. She must be sad. What do you think she imagines has become of us?” U´yuuyewĕ replied, “I guess she thinks we have been killed.” The boys started for their home. When they were still far from their house Ma´asewe asked, “Younger brother, where do you think these bows and arrows were made?” Holding them up before his eyes as he spoke, he said, “I think they are very fine.” U´yuuyewĕ remarked, “Yes, they are fine.”