the loss of their son. One
night, as the mother was weeping on account of her great loss, she heard
some one crying out to her:
"'Hi! Hi!' and at the same time she heard the sounds of bells ringing and
owls hooting. This happened several nights, and then one night there was a
voice saying:
"'You said, "Ghost, take that boy." Hi! Hi!'
"Next morning the wife told her husband what she had heard during the
previous night, and she added:
"'I believe the ghost Annungitee has taken our boy.'
"Her husband was very angry when he heard this, and said:
"'Yes, a ghost has taken our boy. You gave him to him, and he has taken
you at your word. So why should you complain? It serves you right.'
[Illustration: "They tumbled the tall ghost over."]
"At this the mother lifted up her voice and cried out so loud that it could
be heard a great distance.
"'Husband,' she said, 'I deserve what you have said, but I am going to try
and get back our boy, and so to-night I will hide in the pile of wood that
is outside the wigwam, and if the ghost comes along again, as he has been
coming, I will catch him by the leg, and you must rush out and try to
rescue our son.'
"So that night she hid herself in the wood pile, and, sure enough, after a
while she heard the sound of bells ringing and animals softly crying out,
and then a loud 'Hi! Hi!' after which all was still.
"Then, as she cautiously looked out from her hiding place, there before her
was a great creature standing beside the wigwam. He was so tall that his
head was higher than the smoke hole at the top, and he was peeping down
into the wigwam. But, big as he was, she had a mother's loving heart after
all, and as she thought of her boy fastened up there in one of his big ears
she was determined to rescue him if possible. So she cautiously moved along
until she was able to seize one of his legs, which she did with all her
strength, and at the same instant she shouted for her husband to come and
help. Out he rushed, and between them they tumbled the tall ghost over and,
sure enough, in one of his big ears they found their little boy.
"Poor little fellow. He was half-starved, and so thin and weak that he
could hardly stand. But they helped him into the wigwam and gave him some
soup, made out of some birds that his father had killed that day.
"The tall ghost was so frightened by the sudden way in which he had been
seized that as soon as he could get up he hurried away, and w
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