re she
found a fine lodge, and all things ready for her reception, and she
became the wife of the water-tiger. Whilst the children were playing
along the shore, and the boy was casting pebbles into the lake, he saw
a gull coming from its centre, and flying towards the shore, and when
on shore, the bird immediately assumed the human shape. When he looked
again, he recognized the lost mother. She had a leather belt around her
loins, and another belt of white metal, which was, in reality, the tail
of the water-tiger, her husband. She suckled the babe, and said to the
boy--"Come here with him, whenever he cries, and I will nurse him."

The boy carried the child home, and told these things to the father.
When the child again cried, the father went also with the boy to the
lake shore, and hid himself in a clump of trees. Soon the appearance of
a gull was seen, with a long shining belt, or chain, and as soon as it
came to the shore, it assumed the mother's shape, and she began to
suckle the child. The husband had brought along his spear, and seeing
the shining chain, he boldly struck it and broke the links apart. He
then took his wife and child home, with the orphan boy. When they
entered the lodge, the old woman looked up, but it was a look of
despair; she instantly dropped her head. A rustling was heard in the
lodge, and the next moment she leaped up and flew out of the lodge, and
was never heard of more.

MUKAKEE MINDEMOEA,

OR

THE TOAD-WOMAN.

AN ODJIBWA LEGEND.

Great good luck once happened to a young woman who was living all alone
in the woods, with nobody near her but her little dog, for, to her
surprise, she found fresh meat every morning at her door. She felt very
anxious to know who it was that supplied her, and watching one morning,
very early, she saw a handsome young man deposit the meat. After his
being seen by her, he became her husband, and she had a son by him. One
day, not long after this, the man did not return at evening, as usual,
from hunting. She waited till late at night, but all in vain. Next day
she swung her baby to sleep in its tikenagun, or cradle, and then said
to her dog: "Take care of your brother whilst I am gone, and when he
cries, halloo for me." The cradle was made of the finest wampum, and
all its bandages and decorations were of the same costly material.
After a short time, the woman heard the cry of her faithful dog, and
running home as fast as she could, she found her c