The next morning Hodadeñon said to his grandmother, “Tell all the prisoners to come here, lest evil befall the innocent.” When they had all come to the lodge of the old woman, Hodadeñon said, “We will now go through the village and kill all the children of the wizards and anyone else who is left of the maneaters, for some of them may not have been present in the Long Lodge last night.” So, going forth they killed all the relations of the maneaters and burned their lodges.
After that they went outside of the village, where they found great piles of bones which once belonged to persons whom the wizards had killed. These they collected near a great hickory tree. When all had been gathered together, Hodadeñon pushed against the tree, crying out to the bones, “Rise, my friends, or this tree will fall on you!” Instantly from the heap of bones living men sprang up. In the confusion [[213]]of the moment sufficient care had not been taken to put together the bones belonging to the same persons, hence one had an arm too short, another a leg; but Hodadeñon went around among them stretching and arranging these defective limbs. Then he said to their possessors: “I have now brought you to life again. You must remain in one place for two days while I go to get meat for you.”
So, selecting a comfortable spot, they patiently waited. Hodadeñon went out to hunt and killed a great quantity of game. He sent men to bring it into the camp. These were gone all day, but they brought in an abundance of meat. When all had returned, Hodadeñon said: “Now, my brother is tired. Stay here and rest. I must go away for a short time, for I have much work to do.”
Thereupon Hodadeñon started away. As he hurried along he heard the sound, “Dum, dum, dum!” This, he knew, was caused by the man whose name was Deagahgweoses, in making tobacco, which he pounded with a mallet. When he arrived at the lodge he found the old man sitting inside hammering tobacco and singing, He yondyengonni goyengwayen gens, signifying “Wherever one makes tobacco, one possesses tobacco customarily.” And when the tobacco rolls were ready he would tie them with bark cords. Addressing him, Hodadeñon said several times, “Well, uncle, I have come to your lodge,” but the old man gave him no recognition. Then Hodadeñon struck the old man a blow on the head with a small mallet which was lying near, saying at the same time, “I have come to visit you, uncle.” But even then Deagahgweoses paid no attention to the visitor. Again Hodadeñon struck him a blow, saying, “Uncle, I have come to visit you.” Then the old man exclaimed, “I do think that the mice have thrown down the stone bowl,” but he kept on at work pounding his tobacco. So Hodadeñon struck him still another severe blow, whereupon the old man raised his upper lids, which hung down over his face to his chin. Carefully tying them back with bark cords, he scraped out the filth from his eyes with a clamshell, saying, “I think that some one has come into the lodge.” Then, looking around and seeing Hodadeñon, he asked him, “For what do you come here? What do you want?” Hodadeñon replied, “I have come for tobacco.” The old man refused tobacco to his visitor, saying, “You will get no tobacco here.” Then starting up, exclaiming, “I will kill you!” he pursued Hodadeñon with a large club out of doors and around the lodge. Hodadeñon outran him and was soon far ahead of him. Finally, turning and facing the old man, he shot two arrows into his body. Thus died Deagahgweoses.
Then Hodadeñon cast into the air toward the west a large quantity of tobacco, saying as he did so, “Go ye to the lodge of my sister, Yenyentʻhwus.” Far off in the west Yenyentʻhwus picked up the rolls [[214]]of tobacco which fell on her doorstep, with the words, “I thank you, brother; I am so thankful to you, brother.” When Hodadeñon had sent home all the tobacco he burned up the lodge of Deagahgweoses. Then he went back to the place where he had left his newly recovered brother and the other men whom he had brought to life. Having arrived there, he told the men to go home if they so wished. Those who remembered whence they had come started, but those who did not know said, “You must take us with you.”
The next morning they set out for home. After journeying for some time, Hodadeñon, halting the company, said to them, “You have with you two of my uncles, who can show you the rest of the way, for I must go on by myself.” It was his desire to go on alone and thus to reach home first. When he arrived at the lodge of his sister, he told her that he had brought to life all their relatives who had been captives, and that he had also saved their brother from the tortures of the wizards. He informed her that these were coming with others who were not relatives. “Now,” said he, “we must make preparations to receive them and to welcome them to our place.”
Hodadeñon thought that he would make a number of commodious lodges of equal size and of like appointments; so he marked out certain spaces with his feet, walking sidewise, each area being as large as the lodge he desired to stand therein. Then he wished for the lodge with suitable provisions and whatever else was needed. As soon as he wished it, the lodge came into being with everything in it as he desired. In this peculiar way he made a long row of lodges. He made his own lodge also in the same way, but he caused it to be larger than any of the others. When he had prepared everything he went to meet the people who were coming. Having joined them, he brought them to the place he had made ready, where he gave each one his own home. Hodadeñon gave each of his relations a couch in his own lodge; but there were not people enough to occupy the place, so Hodadeñon said, “All who belong here have not yet come home.” Here he referred to his father, mother, and sister, who had been killed at the chestnut trees, and it was his intention to go after them; but he could not mention this lest he should put those who had killed them on their guard. They would have heard his words and so would have learned exactly what were his intentions.
After being home about a year Hodadeñon began to hear again at frequent intervals the peculiar sound, “Dum, dum, dum!” He thought how strange it was to hear this sound. Then he remembered about the agreement made by Yeqsinye Honwande[80] concerning the use of human flesh for food. He decided to learn this, saying: “I shall go and see whether he keeps his word; see what he is doing.” [[215]]
So he started, and as he went on he heard this same sound from time to time. Directing his course toward the spot whence came the sound, at last he reached the edge of a village. Entering the first lodge he encountered, he met nobody there. He then went to a second lodge, and that, too, was empty. Thus he entered every lodge until he came to the center of the village; there was no one in any of them. He stood looking on every hand, quite discouraged. At last, seeing smoke arising from the opposite side of the village, he directed his way toward it. On reaching it he entered the lodge, where he saw an old man on a couch. Raising himself and throwing off the skin mantles which covered him, the old man said to Hodadeñon: “You must take my life at once, for you have caused all my pain and misery.” Hodadeñon replied: “It is not I who have done this. It may be my companion, who looks exactly like me. I am here to see whether it is he who is making all this trouble.” The old man said: “It is time for him to come now; and on this account I made my niece hide in that room yonder. We are now the only persons left in this place.” Hodadeñon, going to the room indicated, said to the young woman in there: “I have come to see how that man keeps the agreement he made with me. If he has taken to eating human flesh, he must kill me before he eats more, and to aid me you must do just what I tell you to do. So help me all you can. I shall fight with him for 10 days. We shall begin here, and shall continue fighting westward. At the end of 10 days we shall return, fighting as we come. At that time there will be nothing left of us except our heads. You must kill your dog and try out its fat, and when the tenth day comes you must have it ready in a vessel, boiling hot. But you must not mistake me for him, for if you do I shall be lost and you will die.”
At this moment he heard the old man cry out. Running to him at once, he found that the man whom he called friend, the old widow’s grandson, had already taken flesh from the legs and thighs of the old man. There he stood with his flint knife, ready to cut off more flesh, saying, “I do not know where to take off the next piece of flesh,” when Hodadeñon came into the room. The latter at once declared, “My friend, you agreed when we parted last that if you would eat human flesh you would first kill the person before eating him, and you have not kept your word.”[81] The other man defiantly replied, “Let us go out and fight to decide who shall rule.” At once they went out, and they began to fight, going westward as they struggled, and soon disappeared in the woods. The young woman heard their cries and groans for several days. Killing the dog, she tried out its fat, and when the 10 days had passed and she heard them coming back toward the lodge she heated the fat and had it ready. [[216]]