A day’s journey farther on they came to the dwelling place of a third people, whom they dealt with as before. Next morning they resumed their march. They repeated their bloody exploits wherever they found a village on the line of their march, continuing this slaughter for many moons.
After pursuing this course for a long time, the packs of scalps which they carried on their backs became so heavy as to be burdensome. Of course, a number of the band had been killed by the people whom they had attacked, so it now happened that those who remained began to complain of the weight of the scalps. One and all said, “It seems advisable that we should now leave our packs of scalps here in some out of the way place for safekeeping.” Finally their chief, Dehaenhyowens, said: “It is probable also that we may now see what we are seeking—the scalp of all scalps. This we could use to cover all we have. Moreover, the kind of thing(s) which we bring with us would not spoil.”
It was about this time that they fell in with a man so tall that one-half the height of the tallest trees was the measure of his towering stature. Then it was that Gaenhyakdondye (Along-the-Edge-of-the-Sky, i.e., the Horizon) said: “Our good fortune has brought about the accomplishment of the purpose of our expedition upon which we had agreed—namely, that we should see in our hands a large quantity of scalps. I think the next thing to be done is to resolve to kill this man, whom we have met in this place. We shall then become possessed of the large scalp about which my brother has already prophesied. So let us attack him at once.” Immediately deploying, they began to assault him, shooting arrows at him, and struck him with their war clubs and stone hatchets, but they could make no impression on him and failed to harm him in the least. At last the strange man said to them, kindly: “What is it you desire to do? Do you imagine that you can kill me?” They answered, “That is indeed our purpose, as it has been our purpose on the journey hither to kill all who fall in our way, no matter who they may be.” To this frank admission the strange man replied: “The purpose for which you are banded together is not good. From this time forward you must utterly renounce it and carefully refrain from carrying it out. Know that it is quite impossible for you to kill me. The reason I came to meet you here was to give you this counsel. I watched you as you made your way to this place, and saw with grief that you killed many people. I want you to know that the reason I have come to meet you is that you have now committed wrongs enough on innocent people; and I want you to know further that if you do not cease from doing these wrongs you also shall die.” To this the leader of the band, Dehaenhyowens, answered: “We are [[610]]very thankful to you for this good counsel, and we will try to abide by it. We will pass beyond this point, as we have bound ourselves by a vow to attempt to reach the place where the sun regularly sinks from view—the spot where the sun goes to and fro.” Then the stranger said merely, “Do you, then, start on your journey.” While they listened to him with bowed heads he vanished, and they did not know nor see whither he went.
When they realized that they were again alone they departed from that place. After traveling a long time, finally they saw before them a very large lake, which barred their progress straight ahead. When they saw that there was apparently no means of crossing the lake, Dehaenhyowens, the leader of the band, said, “What should we do to pass over this lake?” Thereupon one of the band, who seldom uttered a word, said: “We have made an agreement bound with a vow that no matter what the circumstances or the obstacles might be, we would nevertheless pass through them as we have done in the past. Now the time has indeed come for us to fulfill our agreement.” Dehaenhyowens answered, “It is indeed even as you have stated it. Come, then, it is thou who must take the lead.”
Then the man addressed started ahead, going out alone on the surface of the lake. Thither did he go unflinchingly. Thereupon in turn each of the others started in his wake, and crossed the lake safely.
When they reached dry land on the farther shore, they stood still, looking around and examining the new country. They were surprised to see that the visible sky rose and fell at regular intervals.[436] As they conjectured, it rose to the height of the tallest pine tree known to them, and they saw, too, that the place from which it rebounded was so smooth that it glistened. While they watched the rising and falling of the sky they saw a large number of pigeons, which flew out from the other side of the sky, and after flying around returned whence they had come.
Then Dehaenhyowens, the leader of the band, said: “What manner of thing shall we now do? To be sure, here seems to be indeed the end of the earth. It is evident, of course, that there is another country beyond this sky barrier which is thus continually rising and falling.” Again that member of the band who was never in the habit of speaking much said, “You are of course well aware of the nature of the agreement by which we bound ourselves together before we started away from home; moreover, you know that those of us who are still alive number only five. The opportunity now presents itself for us to do that on which we all agreed; its fulfilment is now demanded of us; it is for us to act in accordance with our agreement.” [[611]]
Thereupon the leader of the band, Dehaenhyowens, said, “Come, then; let us now lay aside our burden of scalps in this place for safekeeping until our return.” So each of the band carefully concealed his pack of scalps in such manner that he would be able to find it should he ever have the opportunity of passing that spot again. When they had concealed the scalps Dehaenhyowens, addressing himself to him who had last spoken, said, “Now, it is thou who must take the lead in passing this obstacle in our path, for our path leads directly into that farther country. We must pass so quickly under the sky as it rises that we shall not be caught by it when it falls back again.”
So the man who had been designated to take the lead, having reassured himself, selected a favorable starting point for his dash under the sky. Carefully timing the rising and the falling of the sky, he finally dashed forward as swiftly as possible. His friends watched him run onward until he had disappeared from view on the farther side of the barrier. As the sky kept on rising and falling a second man, making like dispositions, dashed forward, clearing the barrier as the first had done, and disappearing from view on the other side. The third and the fourth man had like success in clearing this obstacle. The sky, however, did not cease from rising and falling back on its resting place.
It was then the turn of the fifth and last man to make the perilous attempt. His four companions anxiously watched him making his dispositions to clear the danger which they had safely passed. They did not see him start, but as the sky arose they saw him still far from the passage, and just as he entered it the sky fell back crushing him to death. He had miscalculated the distance he had to run to reach the passageway, and thus his career ended.