Part 26 (1/2)

And now Tcheuna.s.sat Seeven appeared as a beautiful person, with long hair and turquoise ear-rings, and he said: ”He need not think I always look as I did when I came to his dance. That was only to fool him.”

The beautiful daughter of the beautiful wife grew up, and Tcheuna.s.sat Seeven married her, too, and she had a baby.

And when Stcheuadack Seeven heard of it, he said: ”I am going to punish him.” And he made a black spider and sent it thru the air.

And in the evening when the mother wanted to air her baby's cradle, she took it out, and then the black spider got in the baby's cradle and hid himself, and when the baby was put back the spider bit it, and it began to cry.

And its father and mother tried to pacify it, but could not, and when they took it out of the cradle, there they found the black spider.

And Tcheuna.s.sat Seeven sent word to Stcheuadack Seeven to come and see his grand-child, which was about to die, but Stcheuadack Seeven said to the messenger: ”What is the matter with Tcheuna.s.sat Seeven? He is a powerful doctor. Tell him to cure the child. I will not come. The bite of a black spider is poisonous, but it never kills anybody. Tell him to get some weeds on Maricopa Mountain and cure the child.” And he sent the messenger back again.

And Tcheuna.s.sat Seeven said: ”How can I get those weeds when I do not know which ones are right and there are so many! I cannot go.”

And he did not go, and the child died.

A SONG OF TCHEUNa.s.sAT SEEVEN

There stands a dead vahahkkee On top of it there runs back and forth the Seeven And he has a robe with yellow hand prints on it.

THE LARK'S SONG ABOUT HIS LOST WIFE [9]

My poor wife!

In the West she seems to be bound by the song of the Bamboo.

THE LEGEND OF BLACKWATER

A little off from the road between Sacaton, and Casa Grande Ruins there is, or was in the old days, a mysterious pool of dark water, which the Indians regarded with superst.i.tious awe.

They said it was of fathomless depth, that it communicated with the ocean, and that strange, monstrous animals at times appeared in it. There are Indians still living who declare they have seen them with their own eyes.

I visited this famous place once with my interpreter, Mr Wood. After galloping a while thru a mezquite forest we suddenly emerged upon its legendary sh.o.r.es. Alas, for the prosaic quality of fact! It was but a common-place water-hole, or spring-pond, a few rods across, with bogs and bulrushes in its center.

The unkindness of irrigation ditches, withdrawing its waters, revealed that like most bottomless pools of story it was very shallow indeed.