2
THE
CHEM AW A
AM ERICAN
sister, for I must search for arrow wood. Do you rest here quietly
until I come back to you.”
He set off and was gone very much longer than he thought he would
be. This did not worry him a great deal, as he knew the lodge to be
quite safe, and he did not hurry, for he knew that the new founded
sister would prepare the evening meal for his brothers when they ar
rived home weary and hungry from the chase.
When the brothers arrived home, however, they saw no welcoming
flash of campfire and no tempting smell of cooking came to
their nostrils. Everything about the camp was silent and deserted.
They started forward, calling “ Sister, sister!” but no answer reached
them from the silent forests. They rushed into the lodge and searched
every corner anxiously, but she was gone.
They set out on a long search over the mountains and the wide plains;
but at last, finding no trace of her, they came back to the ledge and lay
down for a rest. All feel asleep save the eldest brother, and far into the
night he lay awake trying to think of some place they had overlooked
in their search. Suddenly he heard a soft sound of crying.
“ My brothers,” cried he, “ I think I hear our sister weeping. Hear
ken ! ’ ’
They all listened eagerly and, sure enough, they heard her voice from
somewhere in the lodge. The eldest brother went over and lifted up
her bed of furs bodily, but instead of finding his sister he saw a deep,
dark hole, which was wide enough to crawl through.
The sound appeared to come from this hole, and he said, “ I will find
where this hole leads; do you stay here!” Very carefully the young
man crept along, and every step he took brought the noise of weeping
nearer and nearer until at last the hole widened into a large room, and
there, lying securely bound with grapevine ropes, he saw his poor sister,
crying bitterly.
“ How came you here, my sister?” asked he.
“ Our youngest brother left me in the lodge when he went to gather
arrow wood,” said the maid. “ I was resting on my fur bed when the
otters through the hole pulled me down into the ground. There are
four of these otters. One is white, and when he comes into the place a
great white light flashes from his eyes and lights up the room. When
the red otter comes a red light illumins the place. When the yellow
brother comes a yellow light the color of sunshine covers everything;
but I dread least the black otter. He’s the poorest of all and he has no
lights; but while all the others have been harsh and cruel with me the
poor little black otter has contrived to keep me alive. When all the
others were away he brought soup and food and fed me!”