Page:Oregon Historical Quarterly vol. 2.djvu/306

290 up and draw in its breath hard, so—s-o-o-oo-p, every living thing flew into his throat, no matter if long way off—hundred mile, maybe.

"Well, other animals look on Coyote as big chief—no, not big chief, but smart man"—kind of father counselor?—"That's it, counselor. Well, Coyote, he trot around everywhere, but couldn't find any one—all gone down Iltswowich's throat.' (Here occurs a break, the story being, however, that the Coyote went to his partner, Kots-kots, the fox, and together they devised a way to investigate the interiors of the monster, and discover in what condition the animals were after having been swallowed, and, if possible, to let them out. The fox was to creep up slyly, almost to the jaw of the monster, while the Coyote went off to a distant mountain in the Wallowa country, and made medicine, and tried his strength before actually intrusting himself within his jaws—in order to prove, probably, that he was able to take the risk of being swallowed and coming through alive. So he went off thither, climbed to the top of the highest mountain, and sighting the monstrous Iltswowich rose up and whistled. He was so far away that he looked no bigger than a single stalk of grass to the monster sitting at Kamiah, and he was not at first seen. But he continued to whistle and to make a challenge that the other should draw him in with his breath, which the monster tried, breathing in all directions; but, as had never happened before, no one came to his mouth, and he began to suspect some great medicine. The Coyote's medicine, however, was nothing more than a grass rope, by which he had tied himself to the mountain. But by it the monster was nonplussed and still gazed abroad to see what thing so small could still exert such force to resist his breath. The story goes on: "He (Iltswowich) rise up like any animal who hears challenge and look. Has eyes just