y house in nine days, and you shall have one boy and one girl
for the bananas." But Tuglay had no children.

Then the Buso gave Tuglay a basket of bananas, and let him go away.

Now, while her husband was away, the woman gave birth to twins,--a
boy and a girl. And when the man got home he was pleased, and said,
"Oh! that's fine! You got some babies while I was away."

But the man felt very sorry to think of giving his children to the
Buso, and he went from place to place, hoping to find some friend
who would help him. All the time, the days of the falla ("time of
contract") were slipping by. He could get nobody to help him. Now
it lacked only two of the nine days' falla. And while the children
were asleep, Tuglay said to his wife, "Let us run away, and leave
our babies here asleep, because to-morrow the Buso will come."

Then Tuglay and Tuglibung ran away, and left their children. They ran
and ran until they reached the T'oluk Waig; but they could not get
away from the falla. The nine days of falla had caught up with them.

At home, the children woke up and found no mother and father there, and
they began to cry. They thought they would run after their parents. So
they left the house, and forded the river, and began to run.

When the nine days were up, the Buso came to Tuglay's house for his
pay. When he found nobody at home, he ran after the children, carrying
with him many iron axes and big bolos, and accompanied by a crowd
of other buso. In all there were three thousand buso,--two thousand
walking, and one thousand flying. The children had the start; but the
three thousand buso kept gaining on them, until they were close behind.

As they ran, the little boy said to his sister, "When we get to that
field over there, where there are ripe bananas, you must not speak
a word."

But when they reached the banana-tree, the girl-child cried out,
"Brother, I want to eat a banana."

Then she ate a banana; but she felt so weak she could run no
longer. She just lay down and died. Then the boy-child looked about
for a place to put his sister's body. He looked at the fine branched
trees, full of fruit, and saw that each single fruit was an agong,
[61] and the leaves, mother-of-pearl.

To one of the trees, the boy said, "May I put my sister here?" And
the tree said that he might do it.

Then the boy laid his sister on a branch of the tree, because the
child was dead.

After this, the boy ran back toward the Buso who le